


Jack Frost

by Tallihensia



Category: Smallville
Genre: First Time, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-31
Updated: 2009-12-31
Packaged: 2017-11-03 01:43:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/375690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tallihensia/pseuds/Tallihensia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not Metropolis... what do people in Smallville do for winter break?  Clark decides to take Lex snow camping just the two of them.  First he has to talk both Lex and his dad into it.  Once there... well, honestly, what would *you* do if you got Lex alone for four days?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jack Frost

**Author's Note:**

  * For [twinsarein](https://archiveofourown.org/users/twinsarein/gifts).



> **Disclaimer:** Only mine in my dreams. ^^ This story was written for free entertainment purposes only and may not be reproduced for profit or altered without permission.
> 
>  **Warnings:** none
> 
>  **Spoilers:** none
> 
>  **Notes:** Set mid-season two. My giftee wanted Old School slice in the life of Clex with a happy ending, and NC-17 if I would. ^^ The expanded request when I poked for more was for options of dirty talk, one of the boys being possessive, first times, with a slight top!Clark preference. I'm an over-achiever, so I tried to cover all that, though my dirty talk might need some work. Hope you enjoy! :)
> 
> Originally posted at [Clexmas](http://clexmas.livejournal.com/16164.html) for the 2009 Gift Exchange.

# Jack Frost

Clark whistled as he walked along the snow-lined of shops of downtown Smallville. Chloe was working on an article, and Pete had deserted him for another girlfriend, but it was Tuesday, so Clark was still happy. On Tuesdays, Clark could usually find Lex at the coffee-shop. The plant itself didn't close for another hour, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Lex was usually down here, going over his papers. Clark suspected he was there just to see the students as they got out of school. He hoped it was to meet him. Clark loved spending time with Lex, and he thought it was the same for Lex. Despite the difference in their ages, Lex was closer to him than any of Clark's friends. Clark couldn't help the small wince of betrayal to Pete and Chloe for the thought. It was true, though. Lex and Clark just clicked, like nobody else Clark had met.

Lex's car was indeed outside the coffee-shop, and Clark grinned at himself for calling it. It looked like Lex had just gotten there too, without more than a thin layer of snow on the top, and what was on the hood melted off. Jack Frost hadn't had time to come by and make patterns on the windows yet, though he had done so for the edges of the coffee-shop's windows, where the inside heat hadn't melted it. Stubborn and beautiful were Frost's patterns, much like Lex was. 

Clark grinned at the comparison and went inside, looking for Lex. He found him pretty quickly. The slender young man was sitting back away from the crowd, in a corner made for privacy. Lex was perching on his chair, not settled into it, and there weren't any papers strewn around yet. Instead, Lex was leaning over his coffee mug, blowing on it. Steam rose around his face and his fingers curled closely around the mug. Obviously, Lex was warming himself up. And he was in danger of burning his nose if he got any closer to his coffee.

"Careful, Lex." Clark approached with a grin, his heart light. It was good to see Lex.

Lex looked up, his eyes seeking Clark out with a hint of a smile which broadened out as he panned his gaze over Clark.

Clark felt his cheeks warming as he watched Lex watching him. The way Lex used his eyes was more tactile than most people used their hands. He sat down quickly to cover his reaction. "Colder than you're used to?"

With a laugh, Lex set his mug down and settled into his chair. "It snows in Metropolis too, Clark."

"Um..." Sinking through the floor was probably a good idea right now.

"However, I admit I'm usually inside nice heated buildings most of the time," Lex added so smoothly it didn't even sound like an apology, but in his eyes it was clear.

Clark perked back up, smiling in relief. "So what do you do during winter normally?"

"Do?" Lex blinked.

"Well..." Clark waved a hand, then apologized to the guy he almost hit. "I mean, we get winter break for school, so usually there's things going on. We have a Festival of Lights where all the Christmas lights are strung up in cool displays, sometimes we go on snow camping trips, there's usually some parties... Uh..." Now that he was thinking about it, Smallville was probably pretty uncool compared to Metropolis in the winter. Just from all the pictures and reports they'd seen. The giant tree that got put up in the Stellar Square, the famous Metro Carolers, the... Clark wilted again.

"Parties," Lex mused. "Lots of corporate excuses to get out and stab people while smiling at them. Weekend after weekend of nothing but flitting from one expensive gathering to the next, smiling until your face cracks, putting up with all the pinches and remarks and getting closer and closer to killing somebody but you know it would be bad for business.

"And then there's the charity events. Those are even worse, sometimes. Standing there passing things out while Dad smiles for the camera and chats the politicians up. Pretending you're happy and care because it's good PR."

Clark looked at his friend, horrified. 

Lex caught the look and with a wink switched stories. "Of course, when I got older, I had my own parties. All the rich brats getting away from their parents and the politicians. We had everything we weren't allowed; the drinks, the drugs, the recreation..." Lex glanced at Clark and cut it off. "Good times. We had fun. Didn't have much to do with winter, though. Other than school breaks."

This was getting worse and worse. "Didn't you do *anything* that you enjoyed?"

The littlest quirk of his lips. "Oh, I enjoyed it..."

Clark rolled his eyes. Lex suggesting stuff about sex was practically his every other breath. It was initially fascinating, but as time went on, it just started getting annoying. Why did Lex always have to talk about sex with other people? Clark glared at Lex.

Lex slipped into a more real smile. "Skiing. I liked going out skiing with people. Going down the slopes at speeds a human can't run but it's just you; you and the wind and the snow. As close to flying as a human can get."

Coughing, Clark lowered his mug and wiped his lips, trying not to bring attention to himself.

Lex paused for just a moment to make sure Clark was okay, and then went on. "The lodges, the warm fires, the snow bunnies just waiting to take care of your every need..."

And there he went again. Clark sighed into his coffee.

"I don't suppose..." Lex took a sip of his own coffee and looked over the rim at Clark a little wistfully. "No, probably not."

"What?" Clark asked, responding to that sign of vulnerability.

"Would your dad let you go skiing with me?" The words came out in a rush, and Lex bent his head over his coffee as he finished, adding in some sugar and stirring it carefully. "There's a really nice lodge up in Aspen. The scenery is spectacular and the slopes are something else. It's quiet and it can be private, though there's access to the main roads if we want..." Lex trailed off, his voice breaking. He quickly took a sip of coffee.

It sounded wonderful. It was just what Clark would want. Time with Lex, somewhere quiet and beautiful where Lex could teach him about so many things. And his dad would never ever agree. Skiing was a rich man's sport, Aspen the land of the extravagant. Paying money to simply go very fast down a hill that had been clear cut of its trees just so people could do this. Clark sighed, full of regret and longing.

"Of course, others would be invited too. Lana -- you'd like Lana there. Chloe and Pete. Anybody else you would like."

Clark jerked in his seat, spilling his drink and knocking the cup off the table. On his way down to retrieve it, he knocked Lex's off too. Lex bent to get his as Clark was crouching for the first one, and their eyes met. Lex's were full of loneliness and a longing, both emotions wiped as he saw Clark watching him. He straightened up quickly, greeting the waitress who had come to help them. 

More slowly, Clark got up. He'd thought that Lex was inviting everybody just to invite everybody because it's what he did... but maybe it was so Clark's dad would agree. And Clark hadn't missed that 'you'd like Lana there' addition. Which puzzled him. Clark would have loved going somewhere with Lana just a few months ago. She was starting to really like Clark, and spend time with him, and it was just what he'd wanted... but somehow it had lost the special excited feeling he always used to get around Lana. Even last year, when they were starting to be friends, he'd still had it. Now, though, the feeling was just gone and Clark didn't know what to make of it.

"Clark."

Clark finally noticed Lex. The older man was sitting at the cleaned table, a fresh cup of coffee in front of him and another one at Clark's spot. He was looking at Clark with a half-smile of amusement and tolerance.

"It's okay, Clark. If you don't want to go, you can just say so -- I don't mind."

"Lex, I'd love it if it was just me. Just you and me, I mean." Clark almost stopped there in wonder as Lex's face lit up with delight. "But Dad... You're right. Dad would never agree. Even if you invited everybody else; you would be stuck with a lodge of all the other Smallville High teenagers and I wouldn't be there because there's no way I could go. It's too expensive and far away."

Though Clark's speech, Lex's expression wavered from that first overwhelming joy to disappointment to acceptance to thoughtfulness. While Lex could really hide his thoughts when he wanted to, Clark had realized a while back that Lex usually didn't when he was with him. That was something that Clark treasured.

Dad wouldn't ever agree to skiing. But then… Clark's attention focused on his thoughts as he started to get an idea. It would depend on how well he knew both Lex and his dad. One little slip and it wouldn't happen. Yet if it did… oh, if it did… "Say Lex, on those skiing trips of yours, did you ever go snow camping?" 

"Snow camping?" Pale eyelids closed over the blue eyes and opened again, reminding Clark of ice covered streams. "Not the way I think you're thinking of." Humor laced through his tones. "Tell me about it."

"My dad and I used to do it all the time -- river fishing in the summertime, snow camping in the winter. It can be really nice. Go out into the woods with nobody and no one around, just the sharp clear air and you. Dig out a snow cave and be all snug and warm inside knowing how cold it is outside. It's a pretty awesome feeling. 

"Sometimes we'd get whole groups out together; family and friends. We all have our favorite snow camping spots out here. Fire in the snow while you're all huddled around roasting hot dogs and your breath is puffing out and your toes are freezing except where you've pushed them too close to the fire and then they're burning instead."

"Sounds attractive," Lex said dryly as he curved his long fingers around his mug in a stroking fashion. 

Clark watched the slim fingers and almost lost his train of thought. "Um, it's really great." Clark sucked at selling things. He put on his best and most hopeful expression and tilted his head to Lex. "Would you like to come?"

Through suddenly slack fingers, the coffee mug fell a centimeter to the table, jostling the contents, in a wave that almost, but didn't quite, crest over the top. Lex's breath did a quick stutter as his gaze locked onto Clark's, before he forced it down, focusing on the table instead. He didn't stay there, though, quickly returning to Clark with the same lack of control.

Lex closed his lids, covering that lack and everything else in the blue irises, and his fingers clenched tightly around the mug they'd dropped just a moment before. "Snow camping," Lex said dryly, finally opening his eyes again to show his usual mask. "Cold, wet, tiring, and probably comes with bruises included."

"Well, yeah," Clark admitted. "And me too." He grinned, sipping his own coffee, happy enough with the results so far. 

"And your family and friends." Though Lex tried to cover it, the words came out slightly tart.

His coffee went down the wrong pipe and Clark coughed, quickly putting it down. How did Lex think…? Reviewing his words, Clark figured okay, he'd accidently implied that. Now he had to wiggle out before anybody overheard and invited themselves along. "Um, well, Pete said 'never again' after the last one, and there's no way I'd get Chloe to agree, so well, uh, I was thinking… uh… maybe showing youhowitsdone." The last bit Clark could only get to come out in a rush, the words sticking in his throat as he worried about it.

There was a softening of Lex's features all over, and his body relaxed. Funny, Clark hadn't even noticed him tensing up. Then Lex's expression turned wistful again. "It sounds delightful, Clark---"

Before Lex could get to the 'but' in that sentence, Clark pressed a bit more, desperately. "It'll be fun. Please?"

Lex hesitated, his lips curving around the syllable that would stop all of this, but the word didn't make it out. Instead, he smoothly switched to, "As long as your father says okay."

Clark knew that it wasn't an actual 'yes', but it was still a 'yes' and he felt his face stretching out into that goofy grin look that he hated in photos. He couldn't help it, he just kept repeating the words over and over in his mind, "He said yes!"

"I said if your father said yes," Lex corrected, a smaller grin quirking across his face, settling into a fond look.

Heat spread rapidly across Clark and he wanted to sink away and disappear. That was supposed to be in his mind only. Not out loud.

Lex smiled over his coffee as he sipped, and it was okay. For some reason, Lex seeing Clark's mistakes wasn't like everybody else. If that had been anybody else, they would have laughed. Lex… well, his grin was a laugh for him, but it wasn't the same. Lex *liked* Clark's mess-ups as much as he liked Clark's wins, and as much as he liked Clark just being there. It made it okay, somehow, to be silly around Lex.

With a return twitch of his lips, Clark picked up his mug again and relaxed, happy to be with his friend.

… … …

 

Back at the farm, Clark approached it even more carefully at the dinner table. First he talked about skiing. "And Lex says it's really great. That you fly down the slopes feeling the wind and it's just like being alone."

Clark's dad snorted. "Rich man's sport."

Martha sighed as she served herself more green beans. "That boy doesn't need anything to make himself more alone."

Both of which were really good responses for where Clark was going. He went on a bit more with the skiing, getting his dad into a discussion of what were more practical fun things to do, and then when his dad brought up snow camping…

"I could invite Lex along on a trip! It's not skiing, but I bet he would like it."

Both parents blinked. Jonathan's mouth twitched and he put his fork down. "I doubt that, Son. It… would be beneath a Luthor."

Expected, but it still rankled. "He might surprise you, Dad. So can I ask him? We could take a few days over the break, head out to Dirger Point…"

"You wouldn't be able to use your strength or speed around him," his dad pointed out. "It'll take the whole day to build a snow shelter."

"That's okay -- you always tell me that speeding through it is cheating anyhow."

Jonathan laughed, "Now that would be a sight; a Luthor working the whole day to build a snow cave. That won't happen any time soon."

Martha opened her mouth, then closed it, covering her grin with a quick raise of her glass. Clark shot her a desperate look and she shook her head slightly at him, still grinning where Jonathan couldn't see it.

"So can we go?"

"Son, if Lex says yes, you can both go." Jonathan sat back, relaxed.

"Yes!" Clark shot his fist in the air.

Jonathan looked worried. 

Martha stopped hiding her grin and laughed out-loud. "Oh, I think he got you good, Jonathan."

"No Luthor would ever agree to such back-breaking work for nothing!"

Clark looked up innocently, "He said that as long as you said okay, we could go."

Martha laughed even harder. "You got *both* of them!"

"Now wait just a minute…"

Standing up, Martha started clearing the dishes. Both the men automatically joined her, stacking their plates. "Oh no; you said yes, Lex said yes… of course both of you expected the other to say 'no' and therefore be the bad guy, but it doesn't matter because you're both too much alike. Once you've given your word, you'll keep it. So you'll *let* them go camping, and Lex *will* go camping. Because my son is smarter than the both of you." Reaching up, Martha gave Clark a kiss on his cheek. "You will be careful, won't you? I'm sure Lex hasn't ever been out in anything nearly this remote. He's going to need some taking care of."

Clark returned the kiss and gave his mom a quick hug. "I'll take care of him, Mom." A fierce wave of possessiveness went through him at the statement, turning it into something more than he'd meant.

Jonathan piled the dishes in the sink and turned on the faucet, shaking his head and laughing. "Alright, I did say it." He hesitated. "Clark, Son… don't feel too disappointed if Lex backs out. I know he's your friend, but…"

"He won't back out," both Clark and his mom said at the same time. They gave each other a quick grin, though Martha's was a little sad.

"Be sure and take him a list of what he needs then, and don't let him overload -- remember, you'll both be hiking and ---"

"Dad!" Clark interrupted, laughing. "I think we've got it." He grinned. "We've done this all our lives, Dad, I think I can show Lex how it's done."

... ... ... 

 

When Clark got to the mansion and slipped inside the study, he took a quiet moment to watch his friend. Graceful as a cat, Lex bent over his laptop in a way that should have looked uncomfortable, but on him just looked natural instead. Slender fingers drummed against the glass desk as Lex frowned at whatever he was reading. Lex took his business so seriously. It was hard to imagine Lex as the frivolous party-goer that he described himself as the other day. Clark *knew* he'd done it -- there was the Club Zero horror, and the friends that sometimes dropped by. But when Clark saw Lex like this... responsibility was something that Lex did well.

Lex reached for his water bottle and then caught sight of Clark. Within the moment, all the worry lines, the frowns, the darkness of his eyes disappeared as joy and delight lightened them instead. "Clark!" he hailed his friend, standing up from his desk. "Have you been there long?"

Moments and forever. Clark approached, holding a piece of paper out. "Here, Lex."

Taking the paper absent-mindedly, Lex did his usual once over pan of Clark before he turned his attention to it. "Sturdy frame backpack, freeze-dried food packets, compact flashlight, wool underclothes, wool shirt, wool socks, gloves, hat, scarf... Clark, what is this?"

"Your shopping list," Clark grinned, moving around Lex to grab one of the waters from the cabinet. He twisted the lid off and laughed at himself as he did so. His dad would die to see him drinking bottled water instead of tap water. And Clark thought it was silly himself -- there was nothing in bottled water that made it any better. Except that it was *Lex's* bottled water. Clark took a sip.

Lex tracked the movement before he shook himself. "Clark," he sighed, putting the paper on the middle of his desk and perching on the corner of it. "You need to get your dad's permission first. I won't budge on that; I've got enough problems with him." The last was said under his breath, but Clark still heard it.

Hearing that, Clark felt a dark looming blackness hovering over him. "You really don't want to go with me."

The full-body wince almost knocked Lex off the table. "No! I mean yes! I---" Lex halted himself and ran his hands over his head, rubbing his scalp so hard it left a little red streak. He took a deep breath. "Clark, I really do want..." He paused, his face doing that funny twitching thing it did when Lex was thinking hard about something. "Wait. Your dad said yes?" Lex blinked, his surprise evident.

Absorbed in watching Lex's reactions, and still feeling a little hurt, it took Clark a moment to process the words. "Yeah." He grinned, but it wasn't as full a grin as it might have been a few moments earlier.

"I'm an insensitive ass." Lex hopped off the table and came to Clark, putting his hands on the outside of Clark's arms and holding him tightly. "Clark, I swear to you, I do want to spend time with you." His lips twitched up, though the smile didn't make it to his eyes. "I have to admit, camping, in and of itself, isn't on my top ten list of things to do, but I'm not just going camping, I'm going with my best friend."

The disappointed feeling left him, and Clark felt a singing in his blood instead. Lex was holding him, his hands warm through the layers of flannel Clark had on. He was close. So close. Clark could feel his goofy grin breaking through again. "Okay." Raising his hands, he touched then held Lex's arms the way Lex was holding his. Sortof an extended forearm grip. "It's okay, Lex."

Lex searched his face carefully, looking for, and apparently finding, Clark's sincerity. He moved back, letting go of Clark with a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry, Clark. I just never expected your dad to say yes."

"Neither did he," Clark admitted, missing his friend's hold.

In the midst of picking up the shopping list, Lex froze. He tapped his finger on the desk once, twice, then he tilted his head and laughed. "You've been hanging around me too much," Lex said, trying to stifle his grin. "What were his exact words?"

Clark's return grin split his face. He loved seeing Lex in full laugh mode, honest laughter. "It was something like, 'okay if Lex says okay.'" 

"Clark, Clark, Clark..." Lex shook his head admiringly, a grin playing at his lips. His expression was fond as he gazed at Clark. "Outmaneuvering both a Kent and a Luthor. I'm going to have to watch myself around you." Lex laughed again, his pride evident. 

Moving around the desk, Lex settled into his chair again and leaned back, studying the paper. "Okay, why wool?"

"Cotton freezes," Clark replied, turning with joy to the practical matters. "It's fine when it's dry, but once it gets wet, it's useless. Wool is warm even if it's wet, so it's better to have everything made of wool or synthetics. I've listed there which types are best."

Agreeably, the two of them discussed the list.

... ... ... 

 

Last day of school! Clark bounded out, sharing his joy with Pete and Chloe as they all whooped and hollered with the rest of the Crows, celebrating their upcoming weeks of freedom. The school bus was a rowdy bunch back. One of the last students picked up, Clark was one of the first dropped off. It gave him extra time in the morning, but he hated it at moments like this when he'd rather spend more time with his friends. 

Flinging the kitchen door open, Clark loudly proclaimed, "I'm home! And free!" 

"Welcome home, dear." His mom greeted him with a kiss on the cheek before she turned back to her baking. 

Clark moved to the dining room... and froze. There, sitting comfortably at the table with his dad, was Lex. There were pamphlets and booklets spread out all over the table, and they were both smiling at him. Both of them. "Um..."

"Hi Clark."

"Son."

The two other men greeted him, sounding perfectly calm and reasonable. Like there had been no fighting or yelling or... Clark moved up, automatically standing next to Lex as he read the booklet.

"Emergency equipment guide?"

Lex leaned back in his seat, his eyes flicking with amusement to Jonathan and then up to Clark. "We were talking about the camping trip. Since it's my first time out, we thought it might be good to have some extra things." Unspoken was the 'and since I have the money to buy it'. He tapped one slender finger on one of the pictures. "We were just discussing the relative values of emergency phones."

Wow. Not something Clark would ever have thought of. And his dad was okay with it? Clark glanced at his dad, who caught the expression and shrugged.

"It's a good idea," Jonathan said. "I'd be a lot more comfortable if Lex's first trip was a day hike or a summer trip, 'stead of a winter snow camp," he held up a hand to forestall Clark's protest, "but since you're both determined, I'll feel a lot better if you and he go prepared."

"Just for emergencies," Lex added, "Since you and I are still hiking in, we're keeping the extras to a minimum and just to what we really need. Like the phone."

"But you've got a phone." Clark could have bit his lip a second later. That was a normal cell phone, not an emergency phone. 

Both Jonathan and Lex politely ignored that slip, turning instead to Martha as she came in with slices of still-steaming apple pie. 

"Clear some room, boys," Martha said, putting the plates down. "Lex, what can I get you to drink?"

"Water is fine," Lex assured her.

"Now Clark," Jonathan picked up his fork and twirled it, "you take care of Lex on the trip."

Clark settled into the seat next to Lex, his rather astonished gaze on his dad.

"It's his first trip, and it's not going to be easy. You're the experienced camper here, and there's a lot to watch for that you may not remember. Be careful to take rest breaks, ask him if he's got hot spots before they become blisters, don't let him break trail until you've shown him how. If he says he needs time, give him that."

The two turned first amused glances at each other and then at Jonathan.

"Okay, okay, I'm a bit of a worrywort." Jonathan spread his hands. "But I can't help but worry -- lots of people have gotten themselves hurt, and experience doesn't always help."

"I'm tougher than I look," Lex assured the older man, still amused yet showing only sincerity and a simple 'thank you' for the concern.

"I know you are, son." Jonathan sighed, and took a sip of his orange juice. "But this is different. You're out of your element here, and I'm not ever going to forget picking you up out of that cornfield. You were so small... Not much obvious in the way of wounds, but you were barely conscious and weighed so little in my arms as I carried you to the truck." Jonathan grimaced. "The thought of you out there in the snow all by yourself... reminds me of how fragile all life is."

"He won't be by himself!" Clark broke in. Then turned to look at his friend who was gaping at Jonathan, completely shell-shocked. 

"You... cornfield... what?" Lex finally got out, his whole body tense, half out of the chair, about ready to bolt. His skin, never that colorful to start with, had gone dead white.

The entire Kent family looked at him in surprise. Martha, who had joined them at the table after bringing the drinks, finally said carefully, "After the meteorites hit. We picked you and your father up and drove you to the hospital. Didn't he ever tell you?"

"I... No." Lex made an effort to pull himself back together, failing miserably. "I don't know anything about that day, other than my few memories, or nightmares, I've never figured out which. Dad... didn't want to talk about it, and I didn't want to ask. Not after all that time in the hospital. You found me?"

After a moment where the Kents processed all the implications of Lex not knowing, they all deferred to Jonathan. Jonathan cleared his throat. "We were driving back to the farm when the meteorites hit. It overturned our truck..." he hesitated and then shook his head. "We got back on the road and were just past the Walton's field when your father ran out on the side, waving us down." He told the rest of the day, their trip to the hospital, the long days afterwards when Lex was drifting in and out of consciousness, never awake for more than a few minutes, and then when Lionel finally was able to transfer Lex to Metropolis General. "We never saw you again after that. Martha tried several times, asking your dad if we could come by when we were in the city, but the time was never right. And then, well, the whole factory thing..." With a grimace, Jonathan stopped talking and busied himself with a piece of now-cold pie.

Clark was fascinated. There was a LOT more detail there than what they'd told him. Originally, they'd told him his part of it, him finding them in the truck, rescuing them, them finding his spaceship. Just last month when the whole adoption thing had come out, they'd told him Lionel's part. But now they were telling Lex HIS part, and there was more of it than Clark had known. 

"You were friends," Lex said. He'd regained some of his color while Jonathan spoke, though he was still obviously shaken. "You and my dad. You were friends."

Martha sighed. "We thought we were. Our two young boys, coming out of that meteor shower... it was such a miracle, and Lionel was so happy that you were alive. He was frantic, when he thought you were gone." She glanced over at Clark. "We bonded over that. Or so we'd thought."

"God." Lex scrubbed a hand over his face and then over his scalp, over and over again. "No wonder you don't trust friendship from a Luthor." His voice was hollow and painful to hear.

"You're not your dad!" Clark insisted, reaching a hand out along the table to his friend. "You're you! And I trust you."

Lex looked down at the hand outstretched to him and then sideways to Clark, his mouth curving up on one side in as much of a smile as he could manage at the moment. "Thank you, Clark."

Jonathan looked liked he'd eaten something sour and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He didn't say anything, but looked to Martha beseechingly. Martha shrugged, her fingers tightly around her glass. Not rescuing his dad, but not saying he was wrong either. Clark for the first time wondered just how badly they'd been hurt. He'd always heard about the land... he'd never been told about the personal stuff.

"You saw his weakness, so he pulled away. Or you reminded him of his failure to me. Or... maybe he never thought he betrayed you at all -- Luthors don't have much of a sense of friendship to others beyond those they know directly, and it was to others that he broke his word, not you." Lex speculated out loud, his gaze unfocused.

"He promised me that our friends would not be hurt if they sold their land. That he would take care of them and make sure they had jobs and a place to go, that---" Jonathan cut himself off, the old pain lacing through his words and showing on his face.

"But he didn't do anything to you," Lex said softly. "For a Luthor... that could have been friendship."

"Are you including yourself in that?" Martha asked, a hint of sharp steel behind the words.

Clark looked between the three of them, and started to open his mouth.

Lex laid his hand over Clark's, effectively shutting him up. "Clark is teaching me... but yes, I do count myself in there. I have never known much of friendship that didn't have a price-tag, and it never extended to others." He took his hand off Clark's and reached for his water glass. Then he stopped and laughed bitterly with realization. "It's all my fault. You don't trust me because of me."

"What?" Clark asked, then protested, "Lex! Stop that. We *do* trust you!"

Lex shook his head, hearing Clark yet ignoring him. "If you hadn't stopped and picked me up all those years ago, you wouldn't have met my father and become friends and would never have been betrayed by him. So it's my fault."

"Stop that!" Martha commanded in much the same tone as her son only with more effect. "I will not have *three* guilt-martyrs in this family, thank you." She glared equally at all three of the men-folk. "Two are bad enough, and I've been trying to talk them out of it for years." Reaching out, she clasped Jonathan's hand, "I carry my own guilt, for I was so eager that day, so in love with Clark, that perhaps I was less cautious than we should have been. But it's done, it's gone, and we move on. This is a new day, and that is in the past. We can, perhaps learn from the past, yet it shouldn't rule us and make us fear the tomorrow."

Lex looked at her with a bright open look of hope that Clark had only ever seen turned on himself before. Irrationally, Clark felt a stab of jealousy towards his mom which he quickly stuffed down. 

"A young boy, younger than Julian, with dark black hair and the most incredible smile... reaching out to me. My mom was holding him, but I just remember that smile..." Lex kept his gaze on Martha as he spoke, his voice trembling. Clark knew instinctively that Lex was offering up one of his most treasured memories, and his heart ached for his friend.

"That was Clark," Martha smiled. "And me. I was holding Clark, your dad was holding you, Jonathan was driving. It was the first time you'd opened your eyes since Jonathan picked you out of the corn field, and you looked right at Clark. Clark was so taken with you... I've never seen a child that responsive, but Clark reached right out to you." She shook her head. "You fell unconscious again after that. And the only other times were in the hospital. Clark wanted to go visit you all the time. Quite insistent he was! Though we were still getting used to him and trying to interpret everything he was trying to say." She shot a look of mischievous amusement at Clark. "You were quite the handful, fellow." Martha turned back to Lex, "We visited the hospital with Clark, and he would come into your room and sit by you and try and wake you up and when that wouldn't work, he would just lay there beside you until we had to go. He was pretty devastated when Lionel transferred you to Metropolis."

Clark was gaping almost as much as Lex was. "I knew Lex?"

"Well, as much as a two-year-old can know anybody," Martha shrugged. "I'm sorry, we don't have any pictures of Lex from back then. But we do of Clark. Would you like to see them, Lex?"

Lex shook himself all over, like a person waking up from a dream. "I would love to." His face shone at the offer, and he glanced at Clark. "I'm not surprised to hear you were a handful even then." A grin emerged, genuine.

As Martha came back with the photo album, Jonathan stood up. "We do have one," he announced.

Martha looked at him in surprise, "One what?"

"A picture of the two of them back then." Jonathan gestured off to his study. "When cousin Shelia died the other year, I was the one to get her photo albums. I've been scanning them in for the rest of the family, and I remember coming across that one... it was pretty early on, I think. I'll go find it."

He left as the family watched after him in surprise.

"Shelia worked at the hospital," Martha explained. "She always was taken with Clark's visits to you, Lex, since she saw it as hope when there had been so much death and pain. She said Clark brought happiness with him whenever he was there."

Clark looked down at his empty plate, focusing on the crumbs. As much as he loved hearing about this unexpected connection between him and Lex, he also couldn't help but wince inside at the reminder of all the deaths. His ship, coming down, bringing the meteorites with it. Killing half the town and still to this day causing havoc. Savagely, he wished he'd never come to Earth, not if it meant all the pain.

"That's enough of that, Clark Jerome Kent!" His mother's voice brought him back to the kitchen with a jerk. 

"Just because we adopted you right before the meteor shower does *not* make it your fault! Nor does the fact that we were happy because we had you in our lives mean we were responsible for other people's losses. We adopted you and were happy, and you will not feel any guilt over the rest of it because they don't have anything to do with each other. Clark, honey," his mom's voice softened, "Don't make our love for you into a bad thing."

Okay, and when his mom put it like *that*... "Okay, Mom." He stood up and went to her side of the table, bending over to hug her tightly. "I love you, Mom."

She held him close. "And we love you, Clark. That won't ever change."

They shared a smile before Clark returned to his seat. He met Lex's gaze on the way back, and was surprised at the amount of longing there. "Lex?"

"Let's see some of those baby pictures." Lex smiled, his expression turning back to friendly curiosity, though Clark could tell he really was interested.

... ... ...

 

"Hey Dad..."

"Yes?" Jonathan put down the book he was reading and gave his attention to his son.

"I thought, well, earlier today... Lex." Clark actually had a dozen questions and wonderings crowded into his mind, so he wasn't surprised that he couldn't get any of them out.

It looked like he didn't need to, as his dad sighed and looked past Clark's shoulder to the wall in the family room. "You're both going out snow camping. It's true that it's mild weather outside, you're taking him on a pretty tame hike, and it's a known area. But there are always dangers, and winters are unforgiving. Disasters can happen in the snap of a finger, and we both know people who have never returned, even experienced people."

"I'll save him. If something happens, I won't let anything happen to him." Clark winced at how strongly he'd said that, even though it was true.

"That is also what I'm worried about." Jonathan grimaced. "He's a smart person and I'm terrified. After our conversation today, I'm not as much concerned about Lex himself as I was before -- he's finally convinced me that he's not his father. Yet where Lex Luthor goes, Lionel Luthor is not far away. Not to mention Lex's past coming up to haunt us. Because of him, we've had reporters, crooked cops, dead cows, and insane moms come looking for us. None of it is Lex's fault... but it's all still happened. The more attention on us, the more attention on YOU, the harder it is for the secret to stay a secret."

It was all true. Beyond the flat-out hatred of Luthors that his dad had always harbored, the rest of it made sense. Clark folded in upon himself, not wanting to ever give Lex up.

"If we can keep him and you safe without you rescuing him, then less questions later. So emergency phones, gear, whatever he and you need." Jonathan got up and clasped Clark on the shoulder. "I know he's a friend of yours. I can also see that he wants to be a friend to you. The problem has always been that he's more than just a friend, he's a Luthor. If he wasn't a Luthor..." Jonathan fell silent for a few moments then shook his head. "I don't know. I can't disconnect the two in my mind. Lex is what Luthor money has made of him and Luthor privilege follows him around, along with the things that probably even Lex doesn't want from the Luthor name. It's all of that, not just Lex."

Clark bowed his head. "He's my friend." More than any friend Clark had ever had before, though he felt disloyal to Pete and Chloe to think it. But Lex understood him, kept up with him, treated him differently... and Clark felt like he was Lex's only friend, compared with the dozens that Pete had around him, or Chloe -- though Clark knew that Chloe often felt lonely here. Lex, though... Clark and Lex just *fit* together, like nobody he'd ever met before. Well, maybe Ryan, but that was different.

"I know he is." Another squeeze and Jonathan let Clark go. "We'll work it out. Somehow."

... ... ...

 

The purr of an engine and tires turning into the yard sounded clearly in the loft. With winter snow bracketing everything, the sound of the car engine stood out a lot more than it did in the warmer months when all the farm noises were active. In winter, even the chickens decided it was too much work to cluck and squawk, and the cows were mostly huddling in brown masses in corners, tucked tail to nose to each other for warmth. Lex's car was a break in the silence, and a welcome one. 

Clark paused to look around the loft and figure out if he was forgetting anything, then he headed down and out to greet his friend.

"Hi Lex!" Clark couldn't really believe it was actually happening. Him and Lex, on a camping trip, just the two of them. Clark couldn't stop grinning.

Lex got out of the car and turned to Clark. His gaze dropped down to Clark's sneakers on the snow, travelled up his jeans to his t-shirt and eventually up to Clark's face. A warm reception was in those turquoise colored eyes. "Clark." The greeting might have sounded subdued and short, but the joy in his voice proved he was just as happy. "You're not ready to go?" Another glance over Clark's body added the layers needed to expand Lex's sentence.

"Oh, I was just doing some last chores to whittle away the time. I'll go up and change -- but honestly, I'm not changing to anything very different, just cleaner!" Clark did his own share of looking. Lex was dressed casually expensively, which wasn't all that much different than his norm. The clothes were new from the hiking catalogs, carefully tailored to look 'normal' but with just enough flash to make it obvious they weren’t from the Sears catalog. Nice boots... Clark actually coveted the boots for a moment and wondered if he couldn't hint for a similar pair for Christmas. A nice slim black jacket that fit Lex like a glove yet was roomy enough to move in and could go over the layers of clothing. Clark wondered how the tailors had managed that trick. No hat. Clark eyed Lex's head and sighed mentally. He'd specifically told Lex to bring a hat and had highlighted it with a star on the list. He didn't care how much Lex hated covering his head, when snow hiking, it was a necessity. Maybe Lex had it in his backpack. Maybe.

With a laugh, Lex walked back to the truck and pulled out his backpack. "Your dad wants to inspect my pack before we go anyhow. I don't think I've ever felt so much like a teenager even when I *was* a teenager!"

"You're not that much older!" Clark protested, his mind having been very much on the age difference lately. 22 wasn't old. Not really. Heck, Lex had only been legal to drink for barely a year now, even if, from all reports and everything Lex said too, he'd been drinking much longer. That was a habit Clark meant to break Lex out of. Sure, a beer with friends, or in Lex's case, a glass of wine or whatever at parties when it would be weirder not to. But Clark meant to show Lex how having fun could be without extras. Firmly, he tromped his mind down on how free and relaxing it had been with the red meteor rock. 

Inside the house, Lex greeted Clark's parents still with a touch of reserve, though more warmly than he had the week before. The revelations about his cornfield rescue had left a huge impression on Lex. Privately, he'd told Clark that on reflection he thought that Lionel had meant to screw the Kents over from the start -- otherwise the adoption wouldn't have been set up so obviously Luthorian. But for the rest of it... Lex had framed the photo that Jonathan had dug up of the young Clark curled up by Lex in the hospital bed, and it was now the primary picture by his computer. Clark had stuck his copy of the photo up on his dresser, replacing the previous photo of Lana. All the other photos of Lana had disappeared into his general photo drawer ages back. That one had just stayed because he didn't know what else to put there. This picture was the instant answer to that. Clark loved this photo. To him, it proved that his connection with Lex was more than just his imagination.

After Clark changed and brought down his own pack, his dad proceeded to give them good advice until both boys were edging towards the door and even Martha rolled her eyes. She gave them both a kiss on the cheek, surprising the heck out of Lex, though he was also obviously pleased by it. Then they were free.

"This isn't one of your usual cars," Clark remarked as Lex started the engine. 

Lex shot him an amused look as he pulled his driving gloves on. "Yes, well, I needed something that could sit in the parking lot for four days and one, not get stolen, and two, still be able to start after being half-buried in snow. My sports cars, while fun, aren't good for either of those."

Clark grinned and ran a hand over the dashboard. "I like it. More practical, though it still has your flair to it."

"What, the plum color? I'll have you know that's a standard paint job. I didn't order it extra!"

With a laugh, Clark settled into his usual banter with Lex, enjoying the easy flow between them. He teased Lex about his money, Lex teased him about his rural upbringing. Sometimes they wandered too close to sensitive parts and accidentally hurt, but they knew each other well enough to back off when they did and apologize with a subject change. In-between the banter was the serious discussion, science, physics, history, anatomy of a snowflake, current space program... They easily merged from one to the other, and while Lex had the advantage of more schooling, Clark had the advantage of fewer distractions and much more time to read. Lex beat him on history and physics, Clark beat him on space and science news.

"So what makes a snowflake unique?" Clark threw out as he watched the snow hit the windshield, melt, and then be driven off by the wipers. He already knew, but he wanted to hear Lex's spin -- it was usually both accurate and different.

"All snowflakes start off as dust."

"Dust?"

"A particle of dust -- minuscule, barely noticeable. As the wind carries it along, ice forms around the speck, still small, still unnoticed. Ice is made up of crystals, though, and as the newly formed snowflake grows, crystal upon crystal, it's being carried through the wind and air and clouds and moisture and temperature change. Every pattern is unique, because no flake ever has the same experience."

"Is this some sort of moral lesson in disguise?" Clark wondered. His teachers had lately been going on about "individuality".

Lex grinned, "Only if you want it to be. 

"The snowflake falls, still growing. By the time it gets to us, it's thousands of times larger than it started off, big enough to be seen, big enough for us to catch, big enough for us to wonder at. And so we see the differences. When it was little, it was one among many. Yet at our level, we finally see the beauty in uniqueness and appreciate and wonder at it. A mystery that we can touch and taste as snowflakes dissolve upon our tongues."

That was certainly different. Technically all true, yet Lex had twisted it into poetry and morality, wrapping a simple snowflake into a story. Clark loved it. He loved it so much he was even going to ignore the uneasy feelings he got with the story treading so close to his own alienness. Lex didn't mean anything by it. Probably. And besides, Lex obviously liked snowflakes.

"Did you ever watch Jack Frost?" It was one of Clark's favorites, if horribly sad at the same time. If he'd had a Jack Frost in his life, he wouldn't have ever let him go, not for any human. At the same time, he identified terribly with Jack Frost himself. Once his alien heritage was revealed, it made it even more ironic.

Lex gave him a sideways glance and changed his answer before he'd even spoken, reducing it to a simple yes. Clark could tell that biting and sarcastic was the first instinctive response and he loved that Lex changed it for him. He gave Lex a happy grin in acknowledgement.

With a smile, Lex acknowledged the acknowledgement, then cleared his throat. "I presume you're talking about the Christmas special..."

"Uh." Clark suddenly remembered all the other Jack Frost stuff out there and was really glad Lex knew him well enough to figure out which one he meant.

"Snowflakes to frost patterns. I always thought Jack was going about love the wrong way."

"The wrong way?"

"Why did he have to turn human? He lost all his powers, became a tailor, which okay, was fine, but he didn't have his powers when he needed them, and he was also telling the girl a lie. If she *had* fallen in love with him, and married him, what do you think would have happened the first time he needed to rescue her and turn into a sprite again? Her heart would have been broken, because their whole relationship would have been based on a lie. I think Jack should have stayed a sprite and courted her *that* way."

There was so much in that for Clark to take personally that he pushed himself back into the car seat and felt like dying right then and there. He didn't think Lex was doing it deliberately -- it sounded like an old grievance being brought out. But ouch. That hurt.

Clark rallied, and asked, "So what you're saying is that Jack should have used his specialness to win her heart because then all humans would look plain and boring to her."

"No!" Lex hesitated. "Well, maybe that's what I was saying, but it's not what I meant. Jack *is* a sprite. To pretend otherwise was just asking for trouble. Love can't be built on a lie, and she never got a chance to know him."

"But she *was* starting to get to know him before everything went to hell. Him, not his spriteness. If she'd met him first as a winter sprite... what if she was frightened, or intimidated by that? Or fascinated? If she met him as a sprite, she would always think of *that* first, not him; not Jack himself. He'd always be the sprite to her, never the man. Being human when he met her was the only way he could talk to her without that in-between."

Lex drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, then turned the blinkers on and pulled into the side road to the park. "Good point. Okay, I'll give you that one. But Jack needed to tell her sooner."

"He was waiting for the right time, then they had the emergency and he couldn't, and she fell in love with somebody else."

"She wasn't the right one for him, obviously, then."

"But he loved her."

Lex shot him a glance that smoldered before Lex banked it. "Not all love is returned in the same way, Clark. She loved him too... just as a friend. Jack... accepted it, in the end, because it's what he could have. Jack will always stay true, even if his love loves somebody else."

The conversation had just flipped a 180 somewhere along the way. Clark blinked and tried to figure out where things changed. Who were they talking about now?

"We're here." Lex smoothly pulled into the parking lot, which thankfully was empty of both other cars and also of snow -- the overhead shelter was still intact so far. Clark couldn't imagine what Lex would say if they came back to find the shelter collapsed on top of his car. Though really, he'd probably just pull out his phone and call somebody. And then throw a lot of money at the park system to build better shelters.

They got the packs out of the trunk and spent a few minutes adjusting everything. There was still no sign of a hat making any sort of appearance. With a shake of his head, Clark reached in his coat pocket and brought out a plum wool hat lined carefully on the inside, guaranteed not to scratch or irritate sensitive skin. It had cost him a month's allowance, but it was worth it for the look on Lex's face as Clark handed it to him.

"Clark..." Lex swallowed whatever he was going to say, completely torn between his adamant refusal to wear head gear, and the fact that it was Clark who was giving it to him. Lex had never refused a present from Clark, or let one get moved to the back of his closet, even when he had better stuff already. "Thank you," Lex finally said, turning it over in his hands and looking like he was trying to decide if he'd bitten into something sour or sweet.

With a grin, Clark took it back and put it on Lex, making sure the gentle side was against Lex's smooth skin and folding the edges to get maximum warmth and coverage. He tucked the tops of Lex's ears in and made sure they weren't caught on anything. Then Clark rewrapped Lex's scarf, not too tightly. Clark tried not to deliberately linger, but it felt really good to be doing this, to be touching Lex, to run his fingers along Lex's skin... He hauled his thoughts under control and concentrated on his task.

When Clark finally stepped back to look at his handiwork, Lex was standing there, his eyes shut, his hands by his side, one loose, one clenched inside his glove. His body swayed slightly, moving after Clark before Lex pulled himself back up. When his eyes opened, Clark thought for a moment that Lex had inherited the heat-vision, they burned so hot. Not that Lex'd ever lost control, however it took Lex several moments to regain his usual extreme levels, his gaze fixed on Clark and his breathing heavy as he did so. Clark regretfully watched a faux calm slide back over Lex's features. His imagination was taking him to places like Lex pouncing on him and ravishing him in the snow right then and there which was seeming less and less likely by the moment. Clark had to admit, though, it was a really nice image. He swallowed and refrained from adjusting himself while Lex was still watching him with that eagle stare. He'd really initially just been making sure Lex's hat was on correctly. Really.

"Thank you, Clark," Lex finally said when he could speak. He reached a hand up, but brought it down before he touched the hat. He turned to get his pack and to put it on.

Clark shook himself all over, freed yet not really wanting to be. He got his own pack and shrugged it on, easily adjusting to it. Then he helped Lex with his, careful this time not to do more than was strictly necessary. 

When they were ready, they started towards the trail. Lex paused to click his key ring and his car beeped twice. Clark stopped in his tracks and looked at Lex in disbelief.

"Um." Lex looked at his keys and back at the car, then around at the empty parking lot and even emptier wilderness. "Just in case a bear wants to drive it off?"

Clark shook his head, snickering. "Not to mention we're going to be miles away if anything *does* set it off..."

With an embarrassed shrug, Lex pointed the keys again and turned off the alarm. "Right. No point to wasting the battery.

"By the way, Clark, here's an extra key for you." Lex got out a second set complete with all the electronic extras and handed them to Clark.

Taking it, Clark looked his question at Lex.

"In case we get separated, or you need to drive, or if I lose my pack, or whatever. Always good to have a spare."

"None of that will happen," Clark said firmly, but took the key anyhow, pocketing it. He would put it in his pack later.

 

They hiked for an hour in the white woods. The snow on the trail wasn't too bad, not requiring a lot of break-up, so they mostly walked beside each other. 

Lex, to both Clark and Lex's surprise, was enjoying himself. The silence, the companionship, only talking when they felt like talking and when they did, free and easy. To Clark, Lex compared it to playing pool, only much colder. 

Clark pointed out things here and there to Lex along the route. An icicle hanging from a tree branch. A bird, still stubbornly sticking around despite the weather. Tracks in the snow, mostly rabbits and deer. 

After awhile, Lex started seeing things on his own, and delighted in returning Clark's attention.

At the hour, Clark stopped in a small clearing. "Rest break," he announced.

Lex raised an eyebrow in question. "We haven't come that far, and I'm not tired. Don't stop on my account."

"Rest break," Clark was firm. His dad had insisted, his mom had insisted, even Chloe had insisted when he'd told her what he and Lex were doing. Once an hour, whether Lex thought he needed it or not. Clark shrugged off his pack and propped it so it made a good sitting stool. He checked to make sure no snow was getting in the pack and then he sat down.

Restlessly taking a few more steps along the trail, with a sigh, Lex came back and sat down next to Clark. He winced a little as he took off the pack, and Clark narrowed his gaze. Lex shrugged it off, saying it was nothing. Clark had no way of telling if Lex was lying or not. He didn't think Lex was... but what was no big deal to Lex might actually be something down the line. 

The two rested quietly, not picking up the conversation, but just sitting and looking out at the winter land. Snow bracketed everything, though it had melted with the sun, leaving gleaming patches of ice that glimmered and sparkled. Clouds drifted overhead, providing the landscape with mottled shapes, and making the sparkles dance and hide as they would. Clark could almost imagine Jack Frost out there with the other sprites, breathing icy gusts and creating patterns on the trees and ground. 

A branch somewhere in the distance cracked, sounding loud in the silence. Beyond it, little sounds of the winter started up again. Rustles and whistles, the wind darting between bushes and trees. The little animals opening up their winter hoards and feasting on stored acorns and nuts. Clark hoped that they'd see a deer during this trip, just to show Lex, though he knew they wouldn't see one this close to the trail when they were making so much noise hiking. Not that they were making a LOT of noise... but it was enough.

Rest break was over by some indefinable moment that said "this is it, time to go". It wasn't a clock, it wasn't an hour-glass, it was just there, in the wild, ready to move. Clark stood up and picked up his pack, dusting off the snow it had been sitting in. Before putting it on, he hesitated. Then with a deep breath, he went over and picked up Lex's as well.

Lex had been mimicking Clark's actions, but he halted mid-reach for the pack when Clark picked it up. Hurt pride flashed across his face. "I can take it. I told you, I'm okay."

"I normally carry a lot more," Clark said. "It's okay, I've got it." He didn't say anything more, he couldn't say anything more. He bit his tongue, shifted from foot to foot and waited for Lex.

It didn't take long. Lex's gaze flashed from Clark's right hand to his left, each holding a frame backpack stuffed with equipment and food. Clark held them casually, loose-handed, not even trying to act like they weighed anything. Blue-flecked eyes widened, a look of glee and triumph entering them. "I knew it," Lex breathed. His gaze met Clark's, a wild grin splitting his face. "I *did* hit you at the bridge!" He took a step forward, eager. "How...?"

Clark took a step back. It was all wrong. This wasn't right, this wasn't... "Why is it always the 'why'?! The 'how'; the 'what'!?" He dropped both packs in the snow, backing up more. "Always the questions! Damnit, Lex..." To his horror, Clark heard himself choking, the scene growing blurry in front of him. With a gulp to keep down the sob, Clark turned and ran.

He had no clue how far he ran, he just needed to get away. To escape Lex and the questions and that horrible triumph. It was as bad as Pete's anger and fear. He wanted acceptance, somebody to tell him it was all right -- for LEX to tell him. Not to question him. He'd shown Lex, wasn't that enough? Clark ran into the side of a mountain and stopped. He sank down at the base of a tree and curled up tightly, rocking slightly, gasping tight hurting breaths.

"Mom..." Memory of warm arms tight around him, reassuring and loving, accepting. Never mind the rest of the world, Clark's parents loved him. He was an alien child dropped into a world bringing death and destruction that continued to this day, and yet they still loved him. They did.

Clark had just wanted one more person to do that too. Somebody not his parents. Somebody... Lex. Whom he'd just left alone in the middle of nowhere. 

"Oh shit." As soon as the realization sunk in, his concern for Lex overwhelmed the fear. Clark stood up, looking around. He had no idea where he was now. "Oops." Probably he'd run in a straight line, though, so if he ran back that way... Glancing at his watch, Clark was astonished that he'd apparently curled up wallowing for over an hour. Or running and wallowing. "I'm in such deep shit." He'd left Lex alone. In the cold. Just taken off and abandoned him. Lex had probably gone back to the car by now. Depending on how long he'd stuck around, Clark might have a chance of catching him before he left. Or he could continue to be a coward and not go back. The next time he'd see Lex... Clark winced. He had no idea what Lex would think or do. After being abandoned and forced to make his way back alone. Hopefully Lex was okay.

With a swallow, Clark ran back. He cursed when he realized it wasn't a straight line, and instead found a highway he knew. Boy, he'd really run far. Speeding along the roads, Clark created miniature windstorms, snow blowing around him as he tried to catch Lex.

Finally, he got back to the parking lot, where the car was parked still. Clark breathed a sigh of relief. Then he got worried. Lex should have made it back by now. It was an easy trail back, and they hadn't pushed it going out. Clark found all his fears about everything that could have happened to Lex coming to the front of his mind and he couldn't push them back like before.

He dashed back along the trail, pausing periodically to scan with his x-ray vision for any hidden Lexes. He didn't find any until he was back where he had left from.

There Lex was sitting on his pack, back against a tree, casually reading a book.

Clark let out a sigh of relief.

Lex looked up and their eyes met, worry, contrition, and anxiety mirrored in their faces.

"Clark, I'm sorry..."

"Lex, I'm sorry..."

They both stopped. Lex recovered first and made a go-ahead sign, putting down his book.

"Lex, I'm sorry I left! I didn't even think, but oh God, I left you alone, in the middle of nowhere and a bear could have come and eaten you, and I'm so sorry."

Lex blinked, a bemused grin cracking through his worry. "A bear." He stood up, his hand gesturing around them. "You were coming back -- you left the packs. I knew you'd be back. And I knew you'd need some time." His face crumpled, losing the grin and regaining the distress. Lex rubbed his hand over his face, knocking his cap off as he continued the motion over his head. "Clark, I'm sorry. I never thought... I'm sorry for all the questions. I want to know but I just drove you further off with each one. I didn't realize." Lex repeated the scrubbing motion, agitated. "I would never do anything to hurt you. I wouldn't. And it's *you* who is my friend. You've got to believe me. Yes, I've always wondered... but that was something else. It just---; I couldn't let it go. I should have. Your friendship means the world to me, and I don't ever want to lose that. I nearly did by my own hand, my own words, and you can't believe how much I regret that. You may not be able to forgive me, but please, Clark, just give me another chance, please."

Clark stood with his mouth open, the torrent of words pouring over him. Trust Lex to go overboard even on his apologies. "It's okay," Clark finally answered when the break went on for more than just a breath.

"No, it's not okay. I betrayed your friendship with my questions, with my inquiries, with my need to know. If I valued you, I shouldn't have gone that far. I called off the reporter yet I never stopped looking myself. If I'd thought... Your friendship was real. Whatever else you were, I always knew your friendship was real, even if I couldn't believe it in the beginning. I don't know what I was doing, to jeopardize that---"

This time, Clark cut him off. "Lex, it's OKAY." He rolled his eyes. "It's my friendship, Lex, I think I should be the one to say if it's okay or not."

Lex's eyes glittered at him with hope and a deep longing. Then they dulled into anxiety again. 

When Lex took another breath, preparing to say more, Clark crossed the distance in a blur. He grabbed Lex's head in his hands and held him as he pressed his mouth over Lex's, tilting to make the seal. And then he stood there, his mind suddenly catching up to the fact that he just kissed Lex, even as his body was waking up to the sensations. 

He *felt* Lex's startled breath in as the air went through his own mouth. Clark couldn't help but follow it back, touching Lex's lips with his tongue, tracing the edges, licking on the opening and wanting but not quite daring to move inside.

A sound reverberated through his mouth, echoing through his ear bones. Clark realized it was Lex, saying his name into his mouth. Then it was Lex's tongue in his mouth, exploring every edge. Lex's hands, tangled in his hair. Lex's body pressed against his. It was an onslaught of Lex. Clark drank it up and wanted more. 

Clark pushed his tongue through the opening and touched Lex's teeth, his tongue, the roof of his mouth... Clark tried to get to Lex's tonsils but couldn't reach that far. 

One hand stayed cupping Lex's head while the other dropped down, holding Lex in the middle of his back and pulling him even tighter to him. 

Lex growled into Clark's mouth and he hitched a leg around the outside of Clark's, like he was trying to climb him. 

Clark lowered his hand even further and cupped Lex's ass, hauling him up and assisting in Lex's efforts.

They ground together for forever, exploring, pressing, woven together until the layers of clothing they were both wearing proved to be the ultimate frustration as they couldn't get any closer. Reluctantly, they parted, centimeters apart, a distance forever.

Blue eyes stared into his, desire darkening the color to darkest sapphire. Clark had seen a black star sapphire once. It looked a lot like this. Beautiful. Slowly, Lex's expression of lust changed to wonder and amazement. "Clark?" Lex asked, his voice breathing over Clark's lips.

Clark closed his eyes, the better to drink in the feel of Lex's voice on him. "It's okay, Lex."

With a laughing snort, Lex pulled a little further back. "That wasn't the ques---" He sighed. "No more questions. Clark, I'm afraid it's inbuilt in me. Please don't hate me. I'll try and keep it down."

"Those aren't the questions I'm afraid of." Clark's arms and body felt empty and cold the further Lex moved from him. He leaned forward and took Lex's lips again in his, trapping them and holding them gently.

Lex allowed it and even teased back, sucking in Clark's lower lip and then nibbling lightly upon it.

They were smiling when they parted this time.

"Pinch me, I'm dreaming," Lex said, laughter deep in his voice, wonder still in his face.

Clark reached out and did so.

"Ouch!" Lex rubbed his arm and laughed again. "Okay." He took a breath, held it, then released it. "Okay."

Clark had rendered Lex mostly speechless. He thought he liked that. Taking a step over, Clark picked up Lex's hat from the ground and brushed the snow off it. It was still cold, though. Clark tucked it inside his jacket, to warm it up.

Lex watched him with a smile. Going over to his pack, he picked up his book and tucked it away. Then he picked up the pack and shrugged himself into it.

With a blink, Clark tried to process this next step. "You want to go on?"

"Well, I certainly don't want to go back." Lex's voice purred, that note that he used when layering his meanings. "I don't think either of us want that."

"No," Clark agreed. He picked up his own pack and put it on. He may not care about weight, but it was easier to carry the way it was designed to. "You sure you don’t want me to take yours?"

"I'm good," Lex said, adjusting the pack around his shoulders and checking the straps. "I'm really not the feather-weight you and your dad seem to think sometimes."

"I know that, Lex. I've seen you." Boxing, fencing, lifting weights, riding, swimming, self-defense tricks, ... it seemed like there was a lot that Lex did. And that he'd made sure Clark had seen him doing. Clark grinned. He'd quite enjoyed all the little displays, even before he knew why. Watching Lex had always been fascinating.

Clark stepped up to Lex and pulled the hat out, holding it out to his friend. 

Lex eyed the hat and then Clark. "You did that deliberately, earlier."

"Well, yes."

"So much for my self-control."

"I thought it was pretty impressive."

"You would also have liked it if I'd kissed you the way I wanted to, with my hands inside your shirt and your mouth hot on mine."

Clark's grin widened and he handed the hat to Lex. "Oh yes."

Lex took the hat and put it on. "I wouldn't have," he said quietly, reverting to seriousness.

With a shrug, Clark turned back towards the trail. "I know. It's what made being around you both exciting and frustrating."

"Made?" Lex fell into step beside him. "Past tense?"

"I don't think I'm going to be quite as frustrated anymore."

Lex snorted. "You're fifteen; I'm twenty-two. You're going to be frustrated a while longer."

"Oh, are we going to talk about that?" Clark had rather expected it at some point. Of course, he'd also expected to be able to successfully seduce Lex in the camp first. Well, hoped to. He wasn't sure if he wouldn't have chickened out or made a hash of things. This... was working out better than he'd hoped. He'd kissed Lex. Lex had kissed back. Clark was floating on air. He checked the ground to make sure he really wasn't. There were footsteps there. Though he wouldn't have been surprised if there weren't. Lex had kissed him back.

"I'm too old for you. You're young, there's a lot more people your age. Girls...."

Clark grinned; Lex wasn't exactly putting his heart into it. "I tried girls. Not as exciting as everybody said they'd be." Or that he'd dreamed of. He could regret the wasted time; however it just pinpointed how special Lex was. That kiss proved it beyond anything.

"So now you're trying the other gender?"

"Tried that too. Also not so exciting. I seem to be set on a particular person more than a type."

Lex halted dead in his tracks.

Still going, Clark stopped after a couple of steps and turned back.

"Tried...?" Lex's face was the weirdest mixture of surprise, relief, and jealousy. 

Briefly, Clark enjoyed evoking those emotions in Lex. Then he turned serious. "Funny thing about being on drugs, it lets one do more things than one would otherwise." Clark was both horrified and fascinated by everything he'd done while on the red meteorite rock. The first time had all been about exploring the girls... but it had also woken him up to the possibility of guys. Or a guy in particular. Before, he'd been fascinated by Lex but didn't know why. After... after, a whole new world had opened up. Clark hadn't touched that world, though, until Pete had slipped him the other rock. That had been more revealing than before. It had also cemented his attraction to Lex, though at the time he'd driven him off. Clark on red rock didn't want to share Lex. Share everybody else, yes. Share Lex, no. 

"You're not..."

"No, I'm not on it right now." Clark sighed. It was a legitimate question. 

"What---" Lex cut himself off. He closed his eyes tightly and opened them slowly. "Clark, you'll have to be patient with me."

Clark grinned. "That's nothing new."

Lex didn't even bother reacting, intent on his point. "Questions are in my blood. They're my lifeline. I am never more alive than when I'm exploring something. I want your friendship more than anything in this world. But not asking is going to be hard."

The world around them was quiet. Their steps had made crunching sounds in the snow, but at the moment, that too was stilled. Clark watched an icicle on a tree as it dripped, melting in the sun. There was a hole in the snow layer below it. 

"It won't be forever," Clark finally said. "I just can't... It's not something I talk about." Although he had. To others who were weird like him. Or to Pete. It had been such a relief to talk to Pete. Clark could imagine telling Lex. At the same time, though, it was scary. Lex did question, and he always took things to the next level. It was easier to show than to tell for most things, but Clark knew Lex wasn't going to leave it there. He didn't want him to leave it; Clark just wanted to take this slower.

"I understand," Lex said, though in a way that said he didn't, not really. Then his face cleared and he repeated his words with actual understanding.

Lex started walking again, and Clark caught up. Lex gave him a sideways look. "So about these gender experiments..." There was, again, that jealous note in Lex's voice.

Clark grinned; Lex really wasn't trying all that hard to dissuade him. "Oh come on, it's not like you can tell me that you didn't have sex *younger* than me."

There was quiet from beside him as Lex tried to say that and apparently couldn't convincingly enough. 

"And you're *really* not going to tell me that all those encounters were with kids your same age. And that they were horrible and you don't ever want to do it again and wouldn't recommend it at all."

Lex coughed into his glove.

"I have heard tales about you, you know."

"Don't believe everything you hear."

"I don't. But you're the one who told me."

Lex blinked. "I did?"

Clark nodded. "You were a bit drunk at the time." Times, plural, actually. When Lex was on painkillers, prescribed or not, and Clark was with him, Lex tended to talk about a lot of stuff he didn't sober. Thankfully, he never talked about the sexploits when anybody else was in the room with them.

"Of course I was," Lex muttered. "Look, whatever about my life -- you're better. My life is not an example to follow, for anyone, particularly you. You're better than me, Clark. That's why---" Lex cut himself off, then took another breath. "Don't follow my life as a route to happiness."

"My life isn't as perfect as you seem to think," Clark said, trying not to spook his friend. When Lex got like this, he could be difficult to deal with. "And you are not the monster of depravity that you think. You're a good person, Lex. I know it. I'm not any better than you are."

"Your friend Ryan said I had dark depths, and he should know."

When Lex had harbored Ryan after Clark broke him out, and intervened on their behalf legally, he'd gotten full access to everything the doctor had been researching. Lex knew about Ryan's telepathic abilities, though he rarely mentioned them to Clark.

Clark looked out at the bright open sky and breathed in the crisp air and wished that he could have shared this with Ryan. Not at the same time as Lex. But there was so much they'd missed the chance to do... "Lex, Ryan couldn't read me at all; that's why he liked me. If he could have read me... he might have said the same thing about me."

"When did you go see Cats?"

"What?" Clark was rather taken aback. He couldn't see any possible connection between the two.

"Cats, the musical. I was wondering when you went to see it."

"I haven't?" Clark questioned the question.

"You quoted it. 'Monster of depravity.' I was trying to figure out why it sounded so familiar, and then I remembered Macavity."

"Did you listen to anything I said after that?"

"Yes." The flat tone of Lex's voice said he didn't believe Clark had dark depths. 

Clark wasn't going to change Lex's mind on that, and didn't really want to. He liked having Lex look at him like he was a hero. Though Clark was scared that when he finally fell off his pedestal, it was going to hurt. "Mom saw it when she was younger. She plays the soundtrack all the time."

"Ah," Lex sounded pleased now that the mystery was cleared up. Clark wished that Lex was as easily satisfied on the others. But then, Lex had gotten his answer on this one.

"I should take you to see it -- the show is great. Or maybe I know what to get your parents for a present now."

"Lex, the show closed in New York."

"It's still playing in Budapest."

Clark gave Lex a slightly horrified, slightly exasperated look. Only Lex would think nothing of flying them out to Hungary for a show. 

In return, Lex gave one of his lazy side grins that said he knew exactly what Clark was thinking and that his statement had been serious, but he knew what the effect would be.

With a shake of his head, Clark stepped ahead of Lex. There was a section of the trail that he would have to clear before they could get through easily.

 

A few hours later, they reached the camp. Well, the spot where there would be a camp. Wide open area with a huge snow pack. It was adequately sheltered from winds on most sides by a hillside and trees, yet open enough to be safe from avalanche. The ground was fairly flat, as Clark knew from previous trips. A perfect place to build a snow cave. And best yet -- nobody else out here for miles. Just the two of them.

It had been an enjoyable hike. They had drifted easily in and out of conversation, with the silences as comfortable as the talk. The kiss hadn't hurt their bond; if anything, it increased it. Talk had been mostly their usual, but also periodically sprinkled with attempts from Lex to tell Clark why he would be a horrible partner. Clark didn't believe any of it. Well, most of it. He did, however, find it interesting that not once had Lex tried to say he didn't want Clark or to seriously try and drive him away. It wouldn't have worked... but Lex hadn't even tried it.

Clark watched Lex fondly as Lex took his backpack off and unzipped a front compartment to bring out papers. Lex was so serious, so intent. Lex was also fun and he could be silly, if a more composed sort of silly compared to Pete and Chloe. Right now, bent over his paper, his face crinkled as he absorbed what he was reading, the tilt of his head as he thought... Lex was beautiful. Clark could get why everybody wanted to sleep with Lex, and he wanted to as well. But more than the sex, Clark wanted Lex. He wanted every laugh, every smile, every serious debate, every intense look. Clark wanted all those for himself.

Walking to Lex, Clark took off his gloves, then reached out and stroked the side of Lex's neck where it curved, the scarf not covered the skin where it should. As Lex looked up, startled, Clark transferred the touch to Lex's cheek, drawing across his lips to the other side.

Blue eyes darkened and Lex's lips parted involuntarily, partially in surprise.

There was something about Lex that made Clark bold. With everybody else, he hung back, shy and cautious, scared of making any moves. With Lex... ever since they'd met, Lex had encouraged and rewarded Clark for seeking him out and asking things of him. Clark tried not to, but when Lex was *happy* to give Clark answers, help, company... it was hard to think of that as imposition. And then, last year, Lex had stayed in Smallville for Clark. Clark had almost not asked. It wasn't his place to say anything, Lex had finally gotten his dad's approval, it was the right thing for Lex to go. But Clark had said he would rather Lex stay, and Lex had stayed. 

And now Lex was with him out in the cold snow, hiking in wilderness with few comforts along, all because Clark had asked him. Clark ran his fingers over the smooth skin of Lex's cheek and leaned over to press a kiss there too. Lex was his. Lex perhaps would protest a bit more, yet Clark found a giddy release in knowing this. Lex had kissed him back, Lex had kept going on the trip, and Lex loved him. It was only a matter of time before Clark had the words as well as the actions.

When Lex turned his head to make the kiss a mutual one, Clark drew back, leaving his fingers there for Lex to kiss instead. He grinned at Lex's frustrated expression. "What do you have there?"

With a rueful smile, Lex turned back to his papers. "Instructions on how to build a snow cave. I was studying it on the internet and printed out some of the better ones."

Clark laughed. "Do you *really* want the experience of building one? Or would you rather just have the shelter?"

Lex put on his cautious face, obviously trying to figure out if he would insult Clark if he said he didn't want to go to the physical work of building one.

With another laugh, Clark took off his jacket, got the shovels from his pack, and told Lex to stand back. Then he put his gloves back on and got to work. X-ray vision proved useful for finding the previous area where they'd hollowed out the ground a few feet for better cave building. Previously, he'd had to dig everything out until he found the depression. It looked good, just a few stray rocks that he had to clear out. Then Clark dashed around gathering up snow from all around and packing it in until he had a mound of it five feet high and twelve feet in an oval diameter. 

He paused to look at his handiwork and to check out Lex. Lex was standing where he'd left him, his mouth slightly parted, his expression wide open with wonder and delight. When Lex saw Clark looking at him, he breathed out something that sounded like, 'magnificent', and walked to Clark. When he got close, he grabbed Clark by the collar and hauled him in for a kiss.

Hot. Wet. Fire. Explosion. Clark almost couldn't breathe. The difference between the kiss earlier and this one was that Lex was in charge and Lex knew what he was doing. And Lex's goal, apparently, was to melt Clark into a puddle.

"That was so fucking hot," Lex purred, his voice two octaves below normal, and he pulled Clark back in for another kiss.

When Lex let him go, Clark fell to the ground, stunned. Which way was up? Down? Gravity? 

"You don't actually *need* all those clothes to stay warm, do you?" Lex had followed Clark down and was unbuttoning the top shirt, stopping periodically to rub Clark's erection that was distending the snow pants.

At this rate, Clark was going to come in his pants and he wasn’t sure if that wasn't Lex's goal. Who knew his powers would be such a turn-on? Clark was tempted to use this new knowledge for all it was worth. What came out, though, was more sobering. "Do you love me for me or my powers?" It was a disheartening thought.

Lex stopped mid-button. The overpowering sex that he'd been projecting dimmed to normal sultry levels. His hand rested on the top of Clark's chest, fingers twitching slightly but not moving. Taking a deep breath, he held it for a long count. Long enough for Clark to notice that Lex's gloves were off and his hand was cold.

"Clark, I love every part of you, which includes all you are. If you didn't have anything physically special about you, you'd still be my best friend and the only one to truly ever like me. Your mind is brilliant, your kindness unparalleled, your caring unrivaled. And you're hotter than Hades with that body of yours and those smoldering eyes of yours and the gorgeous ass. All your physical attributes and your 'extras' added on, though, are just delicious sweet chocolate fudge icing on the top of an incredible rich carrot cake with cream cheese filling."

That was... "Chocolate icing on carrot cake?" Clark asked dubiously as he sat up, taking off his own gloves and then holding Lex's hands in his to warm them up. Lex couldn't have just said "icing on the cake"? No, he couldn't have; that was too mundane for Lex. Clark blushed a little belatedly with the praise that had just been heaped on him.

Lex grinned, delight in his eyes. "Don't knock it until you've tried it. It's a very rare, very unusual combination, but put together right... it's delicious. Just like you." He leaned in and kissed Clark again, taking his time about it, melting Clark slowly instead of quickly. 

Clark found himself back down on the ground, his arms around Lex, Lex's hands busy working their way down Clark's chest, staying warm with Clark's heat, as Clark burned. Clark undulated up, his hips thrusting on Lex. Lex was straddling him, still geared up in all his winter clothes. Clark wanted to see flesh. He wanted to see smooth pale skin taut over trained muscles. He wanted to lick parts of that skin red and suckle on it until he knew what Lex tasted like, until he made Lex cry out. 

"Lex," Clark cried on an inhale as Lex gave him pressure that sent him spiraling into heaven. The 'Le' was quiet and barely audible as the voice went inwards. The 'x' was louder on the amazed gasp back out.

When he could see again, Clark glared at Lex. "You are evil."

Still sitting on him, Lex grinned wickedly. "You don't even know, Clark."

Shifting his weight experimentally, Clark watched as Lex moved with the motion, his eyes half-lidded with pleasure. Then Clark blurred into motion, standing up and catching Lex before he fell, grabbing him in his arms, swinging Lex's legs up until he held him in a groom's carry, all within a few seconds.

Lex's eyes opened wide, his mouth doing the same. Clark plundered Lex's mouth, easily shifting the body in his arms to a comfortable kissing range. When Clark could feel Lex's heart beating rapidly, and Lex was the one melting under the kisses, Clark drew back. He set Lex carefully so he was standing with his back to a tree. Then Clark grabbed those cold hands and drew them together until he could encircle the wrists with one of his hands, drawing Lex's arms up, pinning him against the tree, all long body and sexy gasp of surprise and arousal. 

"The thing is, Lex," Clark growled, nipping lightly at Lex's chin, "*You* have no idea about *me.*" He pulled his glove off with his teeth and then undid Lex's pants and reached inside, still holding Lex up by his wrists with the other hand. The air was cold, but Lex's shaft was hot, and Clark did his best to make sure it stayed that way, pumping him strong and fast, while he bit Lex's collarbone.

Lex cried out, his body convulsing and liquid spurting over Clark's hand. Lex slumped down, held up only by Clark's hold on his wrists. 

Clark crowded in, pushing body to body to tree, protecting Lex against the cold as Lex recovered.

"I think," Lex murmured, his head buried in Clark's shoulder, "That you're just as evil as I am."

With a grin, Clark used his evil powers to tuck Lex back in and zip him up before there was any frost damage to his now favorite part of Lex. He wanted to get to know that part of Lex in much more detail, later, when they were someplace warmer. 

When Lex could stand upright on his own, Clark retrieved his glove and then tried to figure out where Lex's were, looking around the snow where they'd been. 

Lex pulled his gloves out of his coat pocket and put them on. "So," he remarked conversationally, "We have to wait three hours for the air to freeze your packed snow?"

"Yeah." Clark tested Lex's gloves to make sure they covered him adequately, then adjusted Lex's hat, which had been knocked askew again. Lex permitted the actions, his slight smile both fond and wistful. Clark ran a finger over Lex's lips again. He couldn't get enough of this. This *permission* to touch Lex, this right to. Lex was his. After all the dreaming, after all the agonizing, Lex was not only his, but seemed happy to be so. "There's a lake over on the other side which is nice."

"Take me to it," Lex whispered, his gaze locked to Clark's and his voice layered in meanings.

 

They walked. Clark thought about taking Lex in his arms and running over, but it was close and Clark thought he'd save that for another time. Walking next to Lex was pretty darn amazing in itself. They didn't really do this in Smallville. Hung out in the coffeeshops, hung out in Lex's castle. Played pool, drove to Metropolis or just around town at speeds that gave lie to limits. Went down to the laboratory and goofed off with chemicals and made things blow up. Once, Lex got hold of several blocks of sodium and cesium and they'd gone down to the bridge and alternated tossing them over and watching the water explode in geysers and plumes. But they didn't just walk together like this.

When they got to the frozen lake, they stood at the edge of the trees and looked out at it. It was beautiful, all whites and blues and dark blues and blacks and outlines against the sky.

"It looks like an Ansel Adams photo, only in color," Lex said. "Or a painting by---"

Clark put his hand over Lex's mouth. "A painting or a photo is a copy. The masters captured the feeling of them and the essence of what is out here. They are still, though, just copies. Lex, can you just enjoy the original without thinking of the copies?"

Lex reached up and pulled Clark's hand away. "It's hard to kiss somebody's hand when they're wearing gloves." He looked at Clark. "I can enjoy originals."

With a shake of his head, Clark decided not to respond to that and found them a fallen log conveniently overlooking the lake. Actually, it was placed there by the park rangers and smoothed out into a rough bench. Clark dusted the snow off and sat down. Lex sat next to him and glanced over, his gaze evaluating.

Clark inched his hand over the seat and touched Lex's. With a grin, Lex focused on the lake in front of them even as he moved his hand closer to Clark's. After a minute, they were holding hands.

"It loses something with gloves on," Lex remarked, sounding a bit frustrated. 

Clark figured Lex was trying all sorts of subtle finger moves that Clark couldn't feel. He squeezed Lex's hand. "Sometimes, it's better to go back to basics."

With a little laugh, Lex leaned against Clark, tucking his head down on Clark's shoulder. "It's odd, your being bigger than me. I'm not used to being the one doing the snuggling."

"How many others have there been?"

Lex was silent. 

"Lex?"

"Too many. And you, too few. This won't work, Clark."

"It will." Clark let go of Lex's hand and used that arm to tuck around Lex's shoulders, holding him close. He brought his other hand over to take up the duties of hand-holding. 

Lex accepted the rearrangement of their positions, burrowing in a bit closer. Clark felt a strong protective wave wash over him. Lex was so independent, so dominant. Everything Lex did was a game for seeing who had the upper hand. Until he got around Clark. Sometimes, Lex didn't turn it off even then, and Clark loved Lex's little ways of pushing into Clark's territory, scanning him to make him feel ten types of heat, the discussions of things Clark had never seen or done. It was automatic Lex, and all designed for the people he grew up with. Clark understood that, and accepted it. It was even cute, except when it was frustrating; Lex sometimes also had the worst timing ever for his games. 

What Clark really loved, though, was when Lex dropped it all to simply enjoy being with Clark. He didn't need to dominate Clark, he just relaxed in his presence. The discussions of things Clark hadn't seen turned into stories to regale his friend rather than a tactic. The heat in his eyes was just Lex's pure lust and not a game. Coming into Clark's territory was an easy acceptance of their closeness without barriers. 

Clark wanted to save Lex from everything that had put up those protective barriers all around him. He wanted to hold Lex and keep him and never let anything bad happen to him ever again. It probably wasn't possible -- and Lex would yell at him if Clark cocooned him like that -- but it was how Clark felt. He tucked his head over Lex's and watched out at the lake.

 

Without movement, even with the snow gear on, it got cold before the ice had a chance to really pack in. After a couple of mildly sarcastic comments from Lex about the chill and the benefits of indoor fireplaces, Clark and Lex went back to the camp, and then started on other chores. Clark showed Lex how to find wood that was dry and would burn. Lex made more sarcastic remarks about wishing for minions for firewood chopping but he settled into looking for the wood fairly well. Clark suspected Lex appreciated the warmth of working more than the survival skill knowledge. He also didn't think there was a chance in hell that Lex would have voluntarily done this if Clark hadn't trapped him. Clark grinned happily.

While Lex gathered the wood, Clark worked on a fire pit. He built up a packed snow barrier around it that would keep the wind away, while leaving it open enough that the fire wouldn't melt everything. A little further away, he built up another snow pack that he would form into a shelter for the wood. Really, he should have done this at same time as their cave, but Lex had... distracted him.

And Clark was really ready for some more distraction. Why did he want to go snow camping again? Okay for him, but Lex wrapped in multiple sets of clothes was just *frustrating*. Of course, later, Clark could take them all off one by one...

"Happy thoughts?" 

Clark smiled dreamily, and then blushed as he met Lex's gaze.

Lex laughed. "If you don't get cold... then you know what I want to see?"

Okay, Lex was using *that* voice. Clark's breathing immediately started to deepen. "What?"

Lex sat down next to Clark, brushing snow off his pants. Then he started one of his stories, only it wasn't one of the ones he normally told Clark. "Out by that lake. You, taking off your gloves and jacket. Then your scarf. Then your shirt. You stand there, bare chested with the snow flying around you. You place your hands on your hips and look my way. I catch my breath, and ease my hand inside my clothes, where I am warm, so warm... You lie down in the snow and make snow angels, steam rising around from where you melt it, fixing the angel into ice, becoming a deity of snow. As I'm burning and wishing I could join you, you stand up again and take off the pants and shoes. You walk bare-footed out onto the ice of the lake. Michael diAngelo never had a subject so perfect to sculpt. Ruben would forgo his women to paint you. You stand there, facing me, a grin on your face, an invitation for fun. Not a Roman sculpture, but an Etruscan, with emotion and warmth and love. You grip yourself, as I do the same inside my clothes. You out in the open, your feet on ice, white flakes floating around you, your hand moving, your eyes meeting mine, our breaths as one. We come at the same time, my spunk in my clothes and yours splattering the ice, melting holes where it touches."

It took Clark several moments to realize that Lex was finished. He pulled his hand out from his pants where it had wandered at some point. "Jesus Christ, Lex!" Clark swallowed, his throat dry, his body too hot for all the clothes he was wearing. "Oh my God..."

Lex grinned in ultimate pleased satisfaction. "Liked that?"

"Fuck, Lex. I knew you were good at stories..."

"I'm hoping it will be more than a story at some point in the next few days." Lex purred, his body leaning in towards Clark.

Clark gulped. He could do that. Oh God, he could do that. 

He grabbed Lex and kissed him with all the built-up lust Lex had created. Lex kissed back just as fiercely, thrusting his tongue into Clark's mouth and pushing up against Clark. Clark realized that Lex was as hot and bothered as he was, and somehow that calmed him down. He wasn't the only one; this wasn't a one-sided desire. Lex wanted him as much as he wanted Lex. Lex had, most likely, been waiting for this even longer than Clark. Waiting, and not thinking it would ever happen. Lex might be pessimistic about their chances, but he wanted it too much to protest properly; which Clark was rather thankful for. 

Gentling his kiss, Clark tried to express his feelings through their contact. It must have worked as Lex's kiss also gentled, becoming sweeter, more tender. They held each other and parted only gradually, their gazes locked together. Clark didn't know what he looked like, but Lex looked happy. One of the genuine joyful looks that came so rarely and were so precious. Clark wanted to make Lex look like that much more often. 

Raising his hand, Clark touched Lex's cheek. 

Lex flinched away and then controlled the withdrawal. "Cold," he explained ruefully. "I guess that wasn't an entirely accurate story."

"Mostly. We'll have to try it," Clark drew his hand back. His body did get cold, he just didn't notice it much himself. But his mom and dad had remarked on it on other trips. On the other hand, he was also changing. When he'd been iced... that hadn't lasted for very long before he'd shrugged it off. And he hadn't been invulnerable before. Clark shifted uncomfortably, reminded of his alien body and his alien heritage. 

What if having sex with somebody killed them? He didn't exactly have a large sample size to evaluate. Kyla, dead. Jessie, gone. Did what he did with Chloe and Pete count as sex? But then they'd been under the influence of the alien creature from the cave so maybe it protected them. Would Lex be okay?

"Clark?" Lex's voice was worried, carefully modulated but still concerned.

"Um, sorry." Clark pulled himself back to the moment, the heat lost with the cold of his worries. He looked at Lex, drinking in the sight of his friend, protected in his cold-weather gear, face framed in the soft dark hat. He hadn't told Lex everything. Not even a part of it. Clark wanted Lex to accept him for who he was, but he didn't want him to love him just for the oddness. He wanted Lex to love him as a human, but it was a lie not to tell him he was alien. "Lex..."

Lex took off his gloves and cupped Clark's face between his hands. He leaned in and kissed him, a gentle closed-mouth kiss that put pressure between their lips without heat. Just them, touching, being one without the lust. A protective and accepting gesture of reassurance. 

When Lex pulled away, he stroked his fingers through Clark's hair, gently tangling and soothing in steps. "It's okay, Clark." He came back in and kissed Clark's nose, then his eyelid, then his cheek, all the while petting with his hands.

Clark sighed, his fears not gone, yet held at bay with the gentle caresses. "I should make that snow cave now..."

"Some place to warm up would be good," Lex agreed, his mouth still breathing on Clark's cheek, his hands still stroking. "Though I'm dubious about snow holding in heat. I know the theory, but the practice will be another case."

Clark stayed where he was until he could feel Lex's hands chilling, contact with Clark not enough to keep them warm in the cold air. Clark stood up, pulling out Lex's gloves from inside his shirt where he'd tucked them after Lex had put his gloves in his pocket. He put one back and reached for Lex's left hand. 

Lex let him take it, his eyes smoldering as Clark traced the fingers and slowly pulled the glove on over them. When Lex's hand was encased in warmth again, Clark put a kiss on the palm, tickling his lips on the fabric. Then he repeated it with the right hand.

"I think I'm starting to like cold weather," Lex remarked, flexing his hands inside their gloves, his attention wholly focused on Clark.

"You'll like it better after I've finished the cave." It took a huge effort of will to step away from Lex. Clark somehow managed, then turned to test the snow pack he'd laid down earlier. It was ready, firm and solid, ice crystals interlocking the layers to form a solid surface.

Getting out the shovels again, Clark carefully dug one single entrance at the side facing the fire, out of the wind path. It was a small entrance, barely big enough for him to get through. He made it a foot up off the ground in case of snow fall later, and for better access. Clark firmed up the edges, shoring them and making them as secure as he knew how to, and then he looked back at Lex.

Lex was standing near, watching him, his face lit up. Clark hadn't used any speed yet, wanting to make sure the entrance was really well done, and still, Lex watched him with the same admiration he'd shown earlier. 

Noticing Clark's regard, Lex smiled, "I love watching you work."

"Should I go normal speed?" Clark teased.

Clark hadn't realized it was possible for Lex to get any brighter. Lex's breathing changed, and his gaze locked on Clark. "I won't ask," he said, hungrily. "I won't. But... if you want to show me, I won't say no."

With a light heart, Clark zoomed into motion, digging into the cave, darting in and out through the little opening with piles of snow, dumping it out and going back in for more. This was probably less for Lex to see than before because he was mostly inside the cave as he dug it out and shaped it, yet every time Clark glanced at Lex, he was still standing there with his lips parted and his eyes shining, watching Clark.

Clark slowed down every time he went in and out so his speed didn't collapse the opening -- they had had that happen before. He also went more carefully on the edges. As he was shaping the final interior, Lex slid inside, carrying the tarp. 

"I thought I might be able to help at this stage." Lex looked around the inside, squinting. It was very dim lighting, with only the light from the opening and the two airholes Clark had poked at the top. 

Putting the patting down of the dome off for a moment, Clark slipped out and grabbed a couple of candles, then shrugged and grabbed the packs whole. When he went back inside, Lex had almost finished laying out all of the tarp, despite the darkness and the lack of full standing room. 

"I'm used to working in the dark," Lex explained with a grin at Clark's inquiry. 

Clark shook his head and put the candles up on their shelves, lighting the first one with his heat vision and melting a touch from the bottom to give it a solid base of wax to adhere to.

There was a gasp from Lex's corner where he was rolling out the sleeping bags. "Ho---" Lex cut himself off.

With a small grin of his own, Clark moved to the other side and, in full view with the one candle's light, used his heat vision on the second. When that one was placed, Clark did the third. 

Then he turned to Lex.

Lex crawled his way over, kneeling up when he got to Clark and putting a trembling hand on Clark's face. He wasn't trembling from revulsion or fear, though. His expression made that very very clear. Gently, he traced over Clark's eyes, Clark's lids falling shut as Lex did so. Then Lex kissed Clark's eyelids one at a time, then he licked them, gently, and kissed them again after. "Clark," Lex moaned, the name drifting over Clark's eyes. "Ah, Clark..." Lex kissed his way down and claimed Clark's lips again.

Free to move, Clark put his arms around Lex, holding him tightly. This close, he could feel Lex's body trembling all over, movements that transferred into the kiss. Clark pulled slightly away, "Are you cold?"

"Cold? Oh no, not cold..." Lex kissed Clark again, then moved back. "How much more needs to be done immediately?"

Clark glanced around the cave. The rest of it could wait. Well... if he wanted this to last, maybe not all of it. He pulled the little camp heater out of his pack and set it up, not too close to a wall. Then he unzipped the sleeping bags and rezipped them into a single larger one. He shoved the rest of his pack with the stuff they didn't need right now into the cave opening. Then he turned to Lex.

Lex had taken off his jacket and his boots, carefully setting them out. He hadn't removed anything else, though, and he was watching Clark.

With a gulp, Clark quickly took off his own shoes. His jacket was somewhere outside still. Clark didn't care. He shuffle-crawled over to Lex, putting his hands on Lex's scarf.

Lex's eyes dipped down, permission and allure. 

With careful movements, Clark unwound the scarf from around Lex's neck. Then he leaned in to kiss the flesh that had just been revealed. Under the clothes, Lex was very warm indeed. Clark licked and nibbled until Lex was shuddering in his arms.

"There's more to come off," Lex said, his voice trembling. He pushed Clark gently back and unbuttoned Clark's shirt. 

Impatient, Clark worked on Lex's at the same time. Lex was wearing two layers of shirts, an outer buttoned one and an inner thermal set. Clark was wearing the same, though he didn't really need the inner one. He'd worn it, though, because he hadn't been totally sure if he would reveal everything to Lex or not. He planned to, but he'd chickened out before. So many times in the last year, he'd almost told Lex. This time, not telling Lex was working out much better.

Apparently equally as impatient, Lex's mouth descended on Clark's neck, returning the earlier favor with greater finesse. 

Clark cried out, accidently tearing the last few buttons off Lex's shirt. He swayed back on his knees, rocking into the motion as Lex worked on him. His hands reached to grab Lex's hips and found Lex also swaying. In his wildest dreams, he'd never imagined such a reaction. Hot sex, yes, but he'd not imagined it in such detail, and his Lex had always been the Lex he'd seen with Victoria and the others, hot but also cool, sex for recreation and passion but nothing more. This Lex was more. This was *his* Lex, with all that genius and all the attention focused on Clark, and wanting him equally as much.

"Lex," Clark said in wonder, running his hands up under Lex's inner shirt and feeling the smooth warm body.

Lex moved back from Clark and pulled off his shirts, tossing them aside. His hat was dislodged and fell next to them. Clark watched reverently, then shook himself and took his own shirts off. They came together again, pressing up chest to chest, holding each other tightly so there was no space between. Hands roved over backs, over heads, through Clark's hair, over Lex's bare scalp. Down spines, out along ribs, up to collarbones, down again to deeper flesh, tracing the edges of their pants. Repetitively, their hips ground together, not separating enough for thrusting, but each needing to be close. 

Clark needed more. He pushed until he'd created some space between them, then he bent his head and licked Lex's collarbone. Lex's hands came up to Clark's shoulders and gripped tightly there as he tilted his head back. 

His goal was more of Lex, but Clark couldn't help raising his head to look at Lex, with the gorgeous long neck stretched out and Lex's head bent in a perfect arc. Lex's eyes, half-closed and unseeing, his mouth parted. Sweat rising on his skin despite the cold air. The snow cave would heat up soon. Very soon at this rate.

Growling, Clark turned back and focused on a nipple. He grabbed it gently with his teeth and then licked it, his saliva dripping down onto Lex's skin, which he also licked off.

Lex cried out, his whole body arching, following the curve he'd set with his neck, bringing his chest closer to Clark; an invitation and demand. 

"Clark, please," Lex begged, his voice cracking. "Fuck me. Fuck me hard, and fuck me now. I need you, Clark. I need you in me, I have to have you. I can't wait. God, I should have more control than this. But fuck, Clark... it's you... it's really you." 

Lex shuddered, his voice running out and his body coming down from its arch. He opened his eyes and the gaze burned into Clark. Lex meant every word he'd said, and his need reached out and gripped Clark, making Clark gasp and shudder. Clark didn't know if he could wait long enough to do what Lex asked.

"Do you have...?" Clark's grip on Lex's hips possibly would leave bruises in the morning. Lex apparently wasn't, however, objecting.

Pale lids closing over azure eyes. Then they opened again. "Fuck that. I didn't come planning on sex with my best under-aged friend! Spit works. I'm clean. Certified every month. Just fucking do me now! You *do* know how to? I can tell you how to put your fingers in me, opening me up---"

Clark put his hand over Lex's mouth and bent next to his ear. "Lex, if you fucking talk like that, I'm going to fucking come before I'm anywhere *near* you. God." And then Clark remembered... Lex may not have come planning on sex, but Clark had. 

He dove for his pack blocking the door and fumbled through his stuff. He'd packed it in close to the bottom in case his dad decided to check his pack one more time... Where the hell was it? Once Lex had started throwing in the curse words, Clark couldn't keep his mind off them. Fuck was a beautiful word, a wonderful word. It was descriptive and simple, an action and an adjective, something to be done, to have done, and where the fuck were the fucking condoms and lube?

There they were. Clark grabbed them out and barely remembered to shove Lex's pack in the cave opening instead. His own wasn't exactly snow-proof anymore.

When he turned back to Lex, he stared. Lex had stripped the rest of the way, and was lying on top of the sleeping bags. He was on his side, hands busy on his dick, his gaze focused on Clark.

Clark gulped. His pants were too small. Very much too small. He unzipped, thankful he was invulnerable as he had some troubles with the zipper and the pressure pushing against it. Finally, he managed, without actually breaking the zipper. He hadn't brought that many clothes along. Though these would need to be washed from earlier what with Lex's sexy tongue and hot body and... Clark was going to come before he got back to Lex at this rate. Quickly, he sat down and pulled his pants off, not caring about looking sexy, just needing them *off*. In his imagination, he'd planned on seducing Lex with poise and showing how grown-up he was...

"God, Clark, you're gorgeous." Lex gasped, his hand gripping the base of his dick hard as if he was holding himself back from coming. "Fucking beautiful... I dreamed, oh Zeus did I dream, but God, you're so much more... Statue to life, and just as hard. Roman youth running in the race, conquering all, to be rewarded by the gods. What did the gods need with such beautiful young men and women? They weren't celibate gods, that's for sure. I bet they came down from Mount Olympus and looked at you and spread you out and---"

"For pity's sake, Lex!" Clark had hold tightly at the base of his own penis, gripping with super strength, his eyes screwed shut as he concentrated on not coming.

"Fuck fucking, get the hell over here, Clark!"

Clark abandoned the lube and condoms and got to the other side somehow. He didn't remember crawling, he just remembered being in Lex's arms, holding him, being held by him, kissing him. Tongues and fingers and bodies grinding together, pushing, thrusting. He gathered Lex to him and shuddered as his dick rubbed against Lex's. They both gasped, crying out as their skin met over and over again. Clark thrust his tongue into Lex's mouth in imitation of what he wasn't doing with his dick. Lex opened for it, mouth open, sucking on Clark's tongue, while he never stopped making muted moans.

Pushing, Clark rolled Lex over on his back and followed on top of him, his hips slamming into Lex's before he paused to find the right angle. There. There... Clark cried as his penis slid smoothly against Lex's, as Lex's slid along that groove. Lined up together, rubbing. Not thrusting as much so they didn't break the flow. 

Lex's head was thrown back again, his body open to Clark, his hands clutching Clark's ass and pulling him into him. "Clark... My Clark...!" Lex stiffened, his body arching one more time before warm liquid splashed over Clark and Lex fell back.

The sight of Lex coming. Clark gasped, his hand going between them to grasp himself and pump. Lex's body beneath him was relaxing into complete abandonment. His eyes were barely open, unfocused, groping for a sight of Clark. A line of drool escaped out of the corner of his mouth. Sweat gleamed over his body. Clark sat up to see Lex better, and pumped faster, his eyes on Lex. He so fucking wanted to be inside Lex right this moment... 

Clark came, streaking Lex's stomach with a line of white. 

He continued to sit up for a moment while his body shuddered with more release than just the obvious. Then he slowly sank down, lying on top of Lex. Their come smeared together as he shifted, scooting down so that his head was on Lex's chest. Lex's arms came up to encase him.

Their breathing slowed. Sweat dried. They stayed curled into each other, Clark listening to Lex's heart beat, feeling the gentle rhythm as his head moved to Lex's chest raising and falling with his breaths. Lex petted Clark, his hands moving on Clark's back, stroking without direction.

"Clark." Lex was the first to eventually say something. Clark's name was spoken with reverence and amazement. There was more silence after that, though Lex's petting became more directional, and he also started carding through Clark's hair. 

It felt so good that as much as Clark loved Lex's bald head, he almost wished Lex had hair so he could do the same thing to him. Clark stretched out, spreading himself along Lex's naked body below his and feeling the skin against skin. Lex really was bald all over. Clark almost felt like he was gliding on silk, except where their sweaty patches had dried onto each other. And other sticky spots. 

Inching his way up Lex's body, Clark made it to Lex's head while Lex laughed at him.

"Clark," Lex said again, his voice satisfied and happy.

Clark leaned in and kissed him. Kissing Lex had become his absolute favorite pastime. Better than chocolate, better than coffee. The taste of Lex, the feel of him. The way Lex melted under his tongue and then returned to drive that kick right back, both sweet and exciting.

Lex held on to Clark and returned the kiss with interest. He stretched under Clark and then brought a leg up, stroking along Clark's leg, even as his hand stroked down Clark's arm.

It felt so damn good, to be naked with Lex. Better than any of his dreams, because his dreams hadn't included cuddling or this lazy petting that they were doing. Both enjoying each other's body without the sharp lust. Lust there was still aplenty, but Clark was satiated from his orgasm and found it muted, theoretical but with the real knowledge that they would do it again soon. Now was the time for exploration, for gliding down Lex's body and seeing what smooth silk skin felt like on rough farmer's hands. Seeing what dried sweat and come tasted like on his tongue. Further down, exploring what a cut penis was like, and thoroughly cleaning it for later.

Lex clenched his hands in Clark's hair and sighed in pleasure, the sound music to Clark's ears. Clark kept it up until Lex tugged him up, wanting more kisses, and his share of exploring.

Eventually, they slowed again. 

"You were right," Lex said dreamily.

"About the sex?"

"That a snow cave can be nice and warm."

Clark had almost forgotten where they were. There was actually more they needed to do to finish it, and he wondered how comfortable Lex really was lying on just the sleeping bags. Clark hadn't had a chance to put down the softer bedding that normally went between the tarp and the bags. It really *was* pretty warm in there, though. Clark rolled over to his back and scanned the ceiling worriedly. He'd left a thicker wall layer than normal, but if they warmed the place up too much, it could still come down on them. Crawling to the space heater, Clark turned it off. Between the candles and their body heat, they didn't need it right now. Save it for later, when they weren't having sex.

Lex rolled on his side and watched Clark. "By the way..."

Clark looked back at the question and half-accusation in Lex's tone. "What?" He really hoped Lex wasn't going to ask why Clark hadn't told him sooner.

"Are condoms and lube part of your *normal* snow camping trips?"

"Um," Clark glanced to where they were scattered on the ground along with the rest of his stuff and he blushed furiously.

Lex snorted. "I think I was set up."

"Like you mind!"

Silently, Lex spread out a hand in a gesture that acknowledged without admitting. Then he grinned. He sat up and then winced a little, quickly hiding it.

Right, not very comfortable. Clark rummaged for the air mattress in his stuff.

"That might work for normal sleeping, but trust me, it won't last long for what we're going to be doing on it," Lex said, amused.

Clark looked at the air mattress and couldn't repress a grin at the thought. "So what did you bring?"

Lex stood up, hunching over to avoid the ceiling. "You couldn't have made this just two feet higher?" He awkwardly walked to next to Clark, smooth grace trumped by the uncomfortable position.

There was a reason Clark was mostly crawling. "Too tall and it'll fall in on us. Plus, doesn't keep the heat as well." He'd already put it about as high as was safe. Normally, they kept it lower, but he thought Lex would like the extra room.

With a shrug, Lex pulled his backpack out from the entrance, then he dropped it and recoiled. "Jesus Christ, that's cold!" 

Clark darted between Lex and the opening, blocking the air. Lex was already shivering. "Get back there!" he ordered.

Even through his shivering, Lex raised his eyebrows. Clark flushed, realizing he'd never used that tone on Lex before. But... "You're going to freeze, get back to where it's warm."

"Already figured that out, thank you." Lex muttered as he headed back, grabbing a blanket to take with him.

Clark quickly rearranged his stuff, pulling out what they needed and closing up the pack again before sticking it in the opening. Then he opened Lex's pack.

There were a couple more blankets on top. Clark looked at Lex huddled under the one and pulled another out. He held it for a moment, wondering. He'd gotten pretty good at controlling his heat vision lately -- he could vary the temperature so it didn't just burn things. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. He narrowed his eyes at the wool blanket he held and concentrated. He couldn't see any difference, but he thought it felt warmer. He threw it over to Lex, "Careful, that might be hot."

Lex touched it cautiously, then quickly pulled it around himself with a sigh of relief. "The mats are towards the top, I thought we'd be needing them early in set up."

Dubiously, Clark pulled out the four rectangles of some foamy-type material. "There's not enough here, Lex."

"They expand." Lex grinned. "Just get them wet and they'll grow to full size mats.

Clark moved the pack and crawled out with the large pot to get some snow. They were going to need some anyhow. He brought the pot back in and melted it with his eyes, keeping the heat on until it was boiling.

"That is so awesome," Lex sighed in admiration.

Clark couldn't help but preen. He also was recovered for round two. An admiring Lex was apparently fast becoming quite a turn on for him. He looked over at Lex who was watching him just as hungrily. Quickly, Clark sprinkled the water on the mats as per the instructions, and watched them expand with amazement. They were really cool. "How do they shrink again?"

Silence from Lex's corner. Clark frowned and read the instructions again. "They don't? You just *leave* them after camping? That's..."

"They're bio-disposable!" 

"Do you know how long it takes for that stuff to break down?" Clark huffed. Rich people and their waste. "Never mind. They're great." They would do for now. And they were still cool, and were going to be more comfortable than the air mattress. Clark gave each of them a blast of heat vision to make sure they were dry and somewhat warm, and tossed them over to Lex to arrange. He hoped all this extra heating wouldn't melt the cave. He'd never done this before -- normal snow camping didn't generate *that* much heat. Clark grabbed the other supplies and crawled back.

Lex started to kiss him and then drew away. He tossed one of the blankets at Clark and said, "Use your heat-warming trick on that and then wrap yourself -- you're cold!"

"I'll warm up quickly."

"Not on me, you won't -- warm up first, then cuddle."

Clark grinned and did as Lex said. He liked the return of bossy-Lex. He looked at Lex speculatively, wondering about earlier.

"What?"

"Um, nothing." Clark blushed.

"That questions restriction goes only one way; you can ask me anything you'd like," Lex said in a completely neutral voice.

Okay, Lex wasn't entirely happy about the no-questions. He was obeying it as much as he could, but Clark could just see him burning up with them. Eventually, Clark would have to let him ask. And he wanted to hear Lex's thoughts and trade ideas and to see that happiness in Lex's face... but not now. Clark still winced at the thought of saying it, at the thought of being bombarded with non-stop speculation, at his abilities being reduced down to study. Why did Lex have to be that way? But then, he wouldn't be Lex if he weren't.

"Clark, it's okay." Lex's voice soothed. "Whatever it is, it's okay."

Well, fine then. Clark decided he might as well ask. "Earlier, you wanted me to ..." Okay, now that they weren't in the middle of it, Clark was having troubles using the word. He substituted a tamer one. "Top. But I thought you would be the one..."

Lex was having a very hard time hiding his grin. "Oh, like you don't want to."

Clark had to fight to keep back the very physical reaction at the thought.

Scooting over, Lex leaned into Clark, curling up against him. Clark automatically put an arm around Lex and held him carefully. Lex made a contented sound.

"Normally, you'd be right. But Clark, it's you. There are only four people in my life I've ever let fuck me, and it's been a few years since the last one."

"And I *will* be the last," Clark growled, his arm tightening around Lex. He would fight to keep Lex. Nobody else could have him now.

Lex chuckled. Tilting his head, he asked without words for a kiss. 

Clark gave him one, claiming Lex with his actions. He held onto Lex and placed his mouth on Lex's, breathing Lex in. Lex. His. 

In Clark's mouth, Lex sighed happily, relaxing in Clark's grip, allowing the possession. 

Clark shifted over to Lex's ear, and then up on his scalp. Not especially urgent, still claiming.

"I remember waking up on the riverbank," Lex said dreamily, "a mouth breathing into mine. Not the first time, but this time was different. I'd flown over the town; I saw you, alive where I thought I'd killed you. And you were bringing me to life instead. I was yours from that moment on. Or perhaps I've always been yours, from the time you rescued me from the cornfield and watched over me."

"My dad rescued you," Clark mumbled into Lex's skin.

"Details." Lex shrugged. 

The movement dislodged Clark and he turned to face Lex more directly, bringing his hands down Lex's arms, watching the ripple of skin in candlelight. 

Lex reached out to touch Clark's lips, repeating the gesture Clark had been making all day. "Life breather."

Clark followed Lex's fingers back and breathed into Lex again. He could do this forever. Slowly, Lex lay back, drawing Clark with him until they were on the ground. It was more comfortable on the mats. Clark pressed Lex down, enjoying the movement and the smile on Lex's face as he did so.

Slowly, they came together, moved apart, and came together again. Gentle, working their way up to heat. Taking the time to know each other in a way they hadn't before.

The heat rose between them. 

Their limbs tangled together as they groped and rolled, each trying to reach parts of the other and possess them. Strokes down arms, legs, across chests, over groins where they teased before moving on to more. Legs wrapped around each other. Mouths frequently meeting between the rest.

"Are you ready to fuck me now?" Lex purred at one of the meetings.

Clark was ready to fuck Lex for the next three days. "Hell, yes." He reached casually out to snag the lube. 

Lex rolled over, presenting his backside to Clark.

Dropping the lube again, Clark grabbed Lex's shoulder and his hip and rolled him back again. "I want to see you. I want to see your face as you cry out. I want to see your body arch under mine. I want to see you as you collapse." He couldn't get it out of his mind, how Lex had looked like earlier. He wanted to see it again. And again. 

Lex gave him a sleepy smile that was sexy as all get out, and spread himself open, limbs wide, inviting Clark in. He bent one knee, his foot upon the ground, and waited for Clark.

Clark grabbed the lube again, pouring it into his hand. He hoped he'd brought enough. He hadn't *really* thought this would happen. God, it was happening, and it was happening now. Clark laid on his side next to Lex, reaching for another kiss with his mouth, exploring below with his hands. Lex rolled on his side to meet Clark, bringing his knee over Clark's thighs, holding him as he shuddered through the first penetration. 

"More." Lex almost whimpered, not a sound Clark could ever recall him making before. 

He watched Lex in fascination as he moved his finger in and out. Lex had closed his eyes, mouth open just as Clark had remembered, his face slack, receptive to the pleasure. He moved with every move Clark made, his body shifting to take more of Clark in. "Yes..."

Lex was so into the pleasure, so receptive to every move Clark made... Clark almost thought that Lex had forgotten it was him. But Lex was tight around his finger, and Clark believed that Lex didn't do it often. The only reason Lex was so open, so completely absorbed right now was because it was Clark, and he trusted Clark.

Shuddering, Clark used his other hand to grip himself, stroking in time as he added another finger inside Lex.

"Clark!" Lex opened his eyes, seeking Clark in his gaze. When he found him, his head dropped back again, arching backwards, moaning.

"You are so fucking beautiful," Clark said reverently. He suddenly understood Lex's habit of referring to paintings and artists in reference to real-world things, as Lex currently brought memories of porn surfing to mind. Particularly, the hand-drawn inks, with long lines, stroking curves. The details filled in by the eye as the senses latched onto the broad base. 

Leaving his fingers inside Lex, Clark reached out with his other hand to stroke down Lex's back, following the spine, admiring the arch and perfection of body.

Half-lidded, Lex watched him, his mouth curving up. Clark brought his hand to that curve and Lex licked at his fingers then drew them inside his mouth, sucking in rhythm with Clark's motion in him.

Clark shuddered, wanting a third hand so he could keep stroking himself but unwilling to reclaim either of his, captured by Lex. Then a slender hand, delicate but strong, clasped him 'round.

"We can't neglect you, not for what I want," Lex said wickedly.

Almost, Clark regretted it as Lex was more focused now, concentrating on Clark almost as much as he was his own senses. But Lex's hand gripping him, holding him, stroking him. Clark groaned and pushed his fingers in further, seeking. From all he'd read, there should be---

Lex cried out, his face twisting in pleasure, his hand clasping Clark tightly.

Right there. Clark fought not to come, instead concentrating on stroking that bump again, watching Lex spiral, loving the loss of control, loving that he was the one doing this to Lex.

Black star sapphires, dark and glistening, boring into Clark. Lex lunged forward and took Clark's mouth, reaching to grab him tightly. He practically crawled into Clark, not regarding things like skin and physical impossibilities. "I want you, NOW," Lex growled, his fingers twisted in Clark's hair. "You're going to fuck me, and you're going to fuck me hard. Prove that you can drive that nail in, practice until you get it right. Get in me, damn it."

Clark pulled his fingers out and fumbled for the lube again for his dick. Then he hesitated for Lex was *too* close to him... He grabbed Lex's hands out of his hair and forced him away, pushing him flat on the ground, having to use his strength to do it. Lex's eyes glittered at him and his teeth bared, a wild laugh escaping. 

"Fuck, yes, Clark!" Lex heaved up briefly, his grin widening as Clark held him down. He flung a leg up over Clark's waist raising his hips as his shoulders stayed where they were, Clark's hands on him.

Clark shuddered, his breath heaving in great gasps. There was a kink he never knew he had. He looked at Lex and suddenly had new uses for his strength. "I'm going to fuck you, Lex," he growled.

"Do it."

Clark hesitated, suddenly unsure.

Lex narrowed his eyes. "Unless you're too afraid, your fucking first time? Only fifteen -- are you man enough to fuck me?"

Bringing up his age was unfair. Clark growled again, deeper, shaking his body. "I'm going to claim you like no other person ever has. Fuck you, Lex. I'm not waiting any longer." Shifting his grip, Clark grabbed Lex's legs around his thighs. He pushed Lex's legs up against his chest, curling Lex up, keeping an eye on him while he sought his goal. 

Lex's breathing matched Clark's, his gaze riveted to Clark, anticipation in every inch of his body.

Clark lined up his dick and pushed in. Lex was tight. Even with all the preparation, Lex was so fucking tight. Slot A, Tab B, but the fit would have to be forced. Clark didn't want to hurt Lex. He glanced over to see Lex's face.

Lex's eyes were shut, his head tilted towards the ceiling. His face was twisted in what could be pain or pleasure, Clark couldn't tell. His breath was loud and gasping. At the pause, Lex opened his eyes. "What the hell?"

"Are you okay?" It had to be asked. Clark couldn't tell, he couldn't.

"Fucking awesome," Lex grunted, his head falling back again. Then he shook himself and met Clark's gaze again, "I'm fine, Clark. Go on. Please... I need you in me."

The plea reached Clark where the cursing hadn't. Clark moved in more, his gaze this time on Lex's eyes, still locked on his. 

Lex gasped, but didn't look away. "Yes... yes, Clark." 

Clark had to pause for his own sake. Lex was so tight around him, he had never experienced anything like it at all. He couldn't believe he wasn't hurting Lex. "Lex, you're so *tight*," Clark moaned, knowing it was an inane statement as he made it, but so true.

Suddenly, things eased up and he slipped further into Lex without intending to, landing balls against ass. Clark blinked in surprise.

Lex grinned sheepishly, "I remembered how to relax."

Clark couldn't help laughing, and Lex along with him. There he was, fucking Lex for the first time, dick inside Lex's ass, and they were laughing like maniacs.

Pulling partially out, Clark pushed in again, still chuckling. This was better. He wasn't as worried about Lex, and it still felt incredible. He did it again, trying to remember where that bump was.

"Ahhh, Clark," Lex fell back again, his arms stretched out to the sides, gripping the sleeping bag. His head tilted to one side and then the other as he moved with Clark's thrusts.

So beautiful. So his. Clark eased into a rhythm, getting used to the ass fucking, having Lex's legs up over his shoulders, staring over Lex's body at his face. Lex. He was fucking Lex. Clark couldn't believe he was really doing this. He shifted his angle, watching Lex cry out and convulse. Then more straight thrusts, bringing the pleasure. Than the angle for another cry. This was fun. He'd fucked two girls before, and then it had all been about him, though he'd made sure they'd gotten off. This... Clark couldn't believe how much enjoyment he was getting just from watching Lex writhe in pleasure around him. 

"Lex, say you're close. I want to see you come."

Lex didn't respond, except for more moans with the thrusting. Did Lex even know it was him?

"Lex!" Clark snapped out, thrusting in hard enough to slide Lex on the mat, stopped only by Clark's grip on him.

Blue-flaked eyes popped open, meeting Clark's in surprise.

"Come for me, Lex!" Clark growled, thrusting harder and faster. He wanted to see it. He wanted Lex to fall apart and know that it was him doing it...

Lex reached up and grabbed his dick, pumping it in time with Clark's thrusts, his eyes never leaving Clark's. There were no more words, only gasps as Lex got closer and closer. With a final pull, a final thrust, Lex came, his whole body stiffening and then falling back boneless. His eyes had been locked on Clark for the finale and then had unfocused as lids covered the sightless gaze. Limp on the ground.

Clark shuddered, stilling as he watched Lex come apart. Then he resumed his thrusts, unable to be still, his body even more aflame. Lex's body rocked with the motion. For one scary moment, Clark was worried, then he focused his gaze on Lex's upper chest where he could see it rising and falling with his breath, independent of Clark's thrusts. And that was incredible. Lex had so much trust in Clark to be so gone... 

"I'm an alien, Lex. I'm a fucking alien." Clark paused for a moment while he said it, then he resumed. He thrust harder and harder, crying out Lex's name over and over again as he drove into him. Warm flesh around him, everything he always wanted before him. Clark sobbed, reaching for what he knew was right there to be had. 

"Clark."

And that was all it took. The sound of Lex's voice saying his name... Clark came, shouting Lex's. Stars danced in front of his eyes and then blackness covered his world.

 

Clark woke up curled inside Lex's arms. Lex was petting him on his back, absently, like he'd been doing it for awhile. There were a couple of blankets over both of them. Clark felt like he'd run a marathon, and he never got tired while running anymore so that was an utterly bizarre feeling. He was also content, his whole body relaxed from head to toe with satisfaction humming in his bones.

"Hey, sleepyhead," Lex greeted him, a smile on his face.

Clark shifted, embarrassed to have blacked out during sex.

Lex snorted, seeing the discomfort. "I did too. God, Clark. I'm never going to be satisfied with sex ever again." Lex's voice turned hungry on the last sentence.

Indignantly, Clark instantly retorted, "You're not ever going to *have* sex with anybody but me ever again!"

"No," Lex agreed with complete seriousness. He opened his mouth to add something then shut it again. Which was good, because from the look on Lex's face, it was probably something pessimistic about Clark leaving him.

Clark reacted in the way that was completely instinctive already. He kissed Lex.

Under the kiss, Lex melted.

"I think it must be a new power," Clark said as he pulled back. "How to tame a Lex."

"*The* Lex," Lex retorted sleepily. "There's only one of me." His eyes darkened. "And you're nothing like Desiree."

Way to go, Clark thought, angry at himself. He'd forgotten and now he'd hurt Lex. Clark bit his lip and started to untangle himself from Lex.

Lex held on tighter. "I'm sorry, Clark. I didn't mean to bring that up."

"Forgive me first?" Clark stopped trying to get away and curled in closer instead. He hadn't wanted to move away anyhow.

"Always," Lex promised, and kissed him.

 

Eventually, they got up in time for a very belated lunch, almost dinner. The sun was tilting on the horizon, thinking about going down but not quite there yet. Clark went outside first and finished with the firepit and wood shelter. Lex only stirred out of the snow cave when Clark had the fire burning brightly and the camp stove set up next to it. 

Dressed again in complete winter outfit, clothes wrapping him from head to foot, Lex didn't look very happy. He sat down next to Clark (who was wearing only his pants and a t-shirt) anyhow, pressing up tightly against him. "It's cold out here," Lex remarked conversationally.

Clark put his arm around him, unhappy to have the layers of clothing between them but happy to have Lex with him and safely warm. "It is," he agreed mildly.

They looked at each other and laughed.

After dinner, they watched the sun set, and the colorful patterns it reflected on the white snow. Lex spoke reverently of the aurora borealis. Clark looked at him.

"Lex, it's even colder up where they have those than it is here."

"They also have things like lodges, where you can go inside and get warm and look out through windows."

"And skiing?"

"I'm more annoyed at all the clothes than I am about the cold," Lex admitted. "I usually dress in only one layer, no hat, and when I'm cold, I warm up, then I go back out again. But everybody kept telling me for this trip, "dress warm, dress warm, you'll need the layers, you won't have a convenient heater so don't lose the heat in the first place"."

Clark pointedly looked over his shoulder at the snow cave and then back at Lex. 

Lex promptly removed the coat, the scarf, the hat, and the outer shirt, then put the coat back on and leaned into Clark again. 

Clark had to admit, Lex looked much happier. As well as more comfortable. He looked mournfully at the hat in the snow, thinking of his lost allowance.

Lex leaned over and picked up the hat again, putting it on with only a slight hesitation.

That deserved a kiss, at the very least.

They made out beside the fire for awhile, until it started sputtering. Then they roasted smores and fed them to each other while they laughed. Lex didn't look any older than Clark while they goofed off together. 

"Back to bed?" Clark said finally, standing up and holding out his hand.

Lex took it and let himself be drawn into Clark's embrace and then into the cave.

... ... ...

 

The next morning, which was more of mid-day, Lex crawled out of the snow cave and stretched. Clark, cooking breakfast, almost let said breakfast burn as he watched. This wasn't ever going to get old. What was going to be more of a problem was hiding it when they got back. But then, Clark hid lots of things. He still hadn't told Lex everything. Whispering your biggest secret to somebody who is comatose didn't count as telling them.

"Somebody is a bit gloomy this morning." Lex pressed a kiss on the top of Clark's head and moved lightly away, gliding across the snow as he inspected the campground after another night of snow. "I have to admit, I'm really impressed by your cave. I didn't really think that was going to work, even if all the papers said it would."

"Such great faith in me," Clark teased. "And somebody is particularly happy this morning."

Lex flashed him a grin. "I am," he said simply. He stood out in the snow, raised his arms out and proclaimed, "It's a beautiful day!"

Clark laughed. "Breakfast is ready."

After breakfast, Lex cleaned the dishes, proving his domesticity in unexpected areas. Then he looked at Clark. "What did you want to do today?"

Clark couldn't help the glance back to the cave.

Lex threw his head back and laughed. 

Blushing, Clark tried to pretend he hadn't just done that, but it was hard with Lex's full-scale amusement. It was also impossible not to join in. Lex being so happy... was contagious. It was like Lex on sex -- you could bottle it up and sell it, the feeling was so strong. 

"Have any other places for us to hike to?"

"Actually..." Clark had been debating with himself about this even before they left. "I was thinking maybe a run?"

Lex tilted his head, curious and inquisitive. 

"I've never... um, usually I'm only carrying people when I rescue them from something, and they're unconscious. But I thought, if you wanted, it would be really cool... if we ran?"

Stiller than the frozen air, Lex didn't breathe. His eyes glittered at Clark, yet not a muscle moved. Finally, Lex moved. Straight to Clark and with another of his blisteringly hot kisses. Hands inside Clark's shirt, body pressed up against him. It was another several minutes before Lex backed off and said, "Yes."

Obviously, Lex was training him for a pavlovian reaction to revealing his secrets. It was working too. Clark was ready to tell Lex anything and everything, even all the future secrets he'd have. He would have to create more secrets just so he could show them to Lex and get more kisses. Not telling Lex was the best idea Clark had ever had.

Without any more delay, Clark picked Lex up in his arms. Lex grinned, putting an arm around Clark's shoulders and then lounging there like he belonged. He did belong. Clark wanted Lex here forever. He looked out across the land and then ran.

It wasn't the fastest he could go. Clark was very aware of Lex in his arms. He wanted Lex to have a fun time, not to be so blasted by wind that it hurt or so fast they couldn't see anything. But it was faster than any human could go. He zoomed around trees, leapt over a river, scared a flock of deer, and then ran beside them for awhile. Finally, he paused on the top of a mountain, where no roads had ever been built. Slowly, he let Lex down, hoping that Lex had enjoyed it.

Lex kept his arm around Clark, his body pressed closely against Clark as he looked around. "We're not in Kansas," he remarked, lips twitching with amusement.

Clark glared at him. It wasn't too serious, though, as he could also feel the chill in the slender body as it rested against his and worrying about Lex took precedence over berating him over bad jokes. He had forgotten that wind equaled cold as well as pressure. Next time, Lex would have to wear those warmer clothes he despised.

"What? It was a basic observation... There are no mountains this high in Kansas." Lex unwound himself from Clark and took a few steps away. Then he came back and tilted his head, looking expectantly at Clark.

Definitely conditioned. Clark leaned over and kissed Lex.

"I love you," Lex breathed as their lips parted. "I love every single inch of your human-alien body, powers or no powers. However, I love your powers, and I really really love your sharing them with me. I don't know how you came to choose me, out of all the amazing people in your life. I'm honored and amazed. I would have loved you your whole life, even if you'd never come to me, if you'd married the girl of your dreams... I still would have loved you because you're the sun I see every day, the oxygen that keeps me going. That was true when I thought you were a human, and it's still true now that I know you're a sprite. That you love me, and trust me, is incredible."

Clark heard it all, but was stuck somewhere towards the beginning. "I thought..."

Lex raised an eyebrow. "I was hoping for another kiss for all that."

Clark grinned, but it was distracted. "I thought you didn't hear me."

"There were more important things going on at the time." Lex turned around and then settled so he was leaning on Clark, his back to Clark's chest.

Automatically, Clark encircled Lex in his arms, tucking his head over Lex's. His heart was light and he thought he might be able to fly after all. If he was a sprite, and the sprite loved Lex... well Lex loved Jack Frost back, and there would be a happy ending for them after all. 

"I love you too, Lex."

Together, they stood on the mountaintop and looked out over the world.

  


* * *

END

* * *


End file.
